Mencius

3. The answer [again] was, " [The observance of] the rules of propriety [in the matter] is the more important ; " [and then the man] said, " If the consequence of eating [only] according to the rules of propriety will be death from starvation, while by disregarding those rules one can get food, must he still observe them [in such a case] ? If, according to the rule that he shall go in person to meet his bride, a man cannot get married, while by disregarding the rule he can get married, must he still hold to the rule [in such a case] ? " 4. Uh-loo was unable to reply [to these questions], and next day he Avent to Tsow and told them to Mencius, who said, " What difficulty is there in answering these inquiries ? 5. "If you do not bring them together at the bottom, but only at their tops, a piece of wood an inch square may be made to be higher than the pointed ridge of a high building. 6. " ' Metal is heavier than feathers ; ' — but does that say ing have reference to a single clasp of metal and a waggonload of feathers ?

7. " If you take a case where the eating is all-important, and the observing the rules of propriety is of little import ance, and compare them together, why merely say that the eating is the more important ? [So,] taking the case where the gratifying the appetite of sex is all-important, and the observing the rules of propriety is of little import ance, why merely say that the gratifying the appetite is the more important ? 8. " Go and answer him thus : ' If by twisting round your elder brother's arm, and snatching from him what he is eating, you can get food for yourself, while, if you do not do so, you cannot get such food, will you so twist round his arm ? And if by getting over your neighbour's wall, and dragging away his virgin daughter, you can get a wife for yourself, while if you do not do so, you cannot get such wife, will you so drag her away ? ' Par. 7. See in V. Pt I. ii. 1 how Mencius disposes of the charge against Shun for marrying without the knowledge of his parents, — an offence against the rules of propriety greater than that which the man of Jin had supposed. That case and even those adduced here came under the category of that necessity which has no law.

II. 1. Keaou of Tsfaou asked, saying, " [It is said,] ' All men may be Yaous and Shuns ; ' — is it so ? " Mencius said, " It is." 2. [Keaou went on], " I have heard that king Wan was ten cubits high, and T'ang nine. Now I am nine cubits and four inches in height; but I can do nothing but eat my millet. What am I to do to realize that saying ? " 3. The reply was, " What has the thing to do with this, — [the question of size] ? It all lies simply in acting as such. Here is a man whose strength was not equal to lift a duck ling or a chicken, — he was [then] a man of no strength. [But] to-day he says, 'I can lift three thousand catties;' he is [now] a man of strength. And so, he who can lift the weight which Woo Hwoh lifted is just another Woo Hwoh. Why should a man make a want of ability the subject of his grief? It is only that he will not do the thing. 4. " To walk slowly, keeping behind his elders, is to per form the part of a younger. To walk rapidly, going before his elders, is to violate the duty of a younger. But is walk ing slowly what any man can not do ? it is [only] what he

CH. II. ALL MAY BECOME YAOUS AND SHUNS, AND TO DO so THEY HAVE ONLY SINCERELY TO CULTIVATE YAOTT AND SHUN'S PRINCIPLES AND WAYS. IT IS THE MIND WHICH IS THE MEASURE OF THE MAN. HOW MENCIUS DEALT WITH AN APPLICANT IN WHOM HE HAD NOT CONFIDENCE. Par. I. Ts'aou had been an earldom, held by descendants of one of king Wan'ssons ; but it had been extinguished and absorbed by Sung before the end of the Ch'un Ts.'ew period, — a considerable time before Mencius. The descendants of its earls had probably adopted the name of their ancient patrimony as their surname ; and the Keaou of the text was, we may sup pose, one of them. Par. 2. As to the heights mentioned here, see on Ana. VIII. vi. The ancient cubit was only, it is said, -74 of the present, so that Wan's 10 cubits become reduced to 7'4, and T'ang's 9 to (r6t> of the present standard ; but these estimates must still be too high. Keaou was evidently pluming him self on his dimensions. Par. 3. "It all lies simply in acting as such;" — compare the way in which Mencius puts the question of physical and moral ability in I. Ft I. vii. 10, 11. Woo Hwoh was a man noted for his strength. Sze-ma Ts'een and others mention him in connexion with king Woo of Ts'in (^B.C. 309 — 306).

J'tir. 4. In illustration of this paragraph, Choo He quotes two other commentators, — Ch'in Yang, or Ch'in Tsin-che (about the beginning of the llth century), who says : — " Filial piety and fraternal duty, of which men have an intuitive knowledge, and for which the}' have an inborn ability, are the natural out-goings of the nature. Yaou and Shun exhibited the perfection does not do. The course of Yaou and Shun was simply that of filial piety and fraternal duty. 5. " Do you wear the clothes of Yaou, repeat the words of Yaou, and do the actions of Yaou, and you will just be a Yaou. And if you wear the clothes of Ke'eh, repeat the words of Ke'eh, and do the actions of Keeh, you will just be a Keeh." 6. [Ke'aou] said, "When I have an audience of the ruler of Tsow, I can ask him to let me have a house to lodge in. I wish to remain here, and receive instruction at your gate." 7. [Mencius] replied, " The way [of truth] is like a great road ; it is not difficult to know it. The evil is only that men will not seek for it. Do you go home, and seek it, and you will have abundance of teachers."

III. 1. Kung-sun Chfow asked, saying, " Kaou-tsze says that the Seaou pwan is the ode of a small man; — [is it of the human relations ; but yet they simply acted in accordance with this nature. How could they add a hair's point to it ? " and Yang IShe or Yang Chung-teih (A.D. 1053 — 1099), who says : — " The way of Yaou and Shun was great, but what made it so was now the rapidity and now the slow ness of their walking and stopping, and not things that were very high and difficult to practise. This is what may be present to the common people in their daily usages, but they do not know it." Par. 5. The meaning is simply — Imitate the men, doing as they did, and you will be such as they. Par. 6. There is an indication here that Ke'aou was presuming on his nobility, and vaunting his influence with the ruler of Tsow. Moreover, his wish to secure a lodging before he became a pupil in Mencius' school is held to show that he was devoid of genuine earnestness. On these grounds Mencius would give him no encouragement, yet there are important truths and a valuable lesson in the words of the next paragraph, with which he sent him away.

CH. III. MENCIUS' EXPLANATION OF THE ODES SEAOU PWAN AND K'AE FUNG. COMPLAINTS AGAINST A PARENT ARE NOT NECESSARILY UNFILIAL. Pur. 1. Who the Kaou-tsze, mentioned here, was, must be left in doubt. From Mencius calling him " that old Kaou," it would seem plain that he could not be the individual of the same surname who appears in II. Part II. xii. 2, and was, we may suppose, a disciple of our philosopher. For the Seaou pwan see the Book of Poetry, Part II. vii. Ode III. That Ode is commonly, though not by Chaou K'e, accepted as having been writ ten by E-k'e'w, the son and heir-apparent of king Yew (B.C. 780—770), or by the prince's master. Led away by the arts of a mistress, the king degraded E-k'e'w and his mother, and the Ode expresses the sorrow and dissatisfaction which the son could not but feel in such circumstances. so ?] " Meneius replied, " Why does lie say so ? " and [the disciple] said, " Because of the murmuring [which it 'expresses]." '2. [Meneius] answered, "How stupid is that old Kaouin dealing with the ode ! There is a man here, and a native of Yueh bends his bow to shoot him, while I will talk smilingly, and advise him [not to do so] ; — for no other reason but that he is not related to me. [But] if my own elder brother be bending his bow to shoot the man, then i will advise him [not to do so], weeping and crying the while ; — for no other reason but that he is related to me. The dissatisfaction expressed in the Seaou pwan is the working of relative affection; and that affection shows benevolence. Stupid indeed is that old Kaou's criticism of the ode ! "

o. [Oh/ow then] said, " How is it that there is no murmur ing in the K'ae fung ?'J 4. [Meneius] replied, " The parent's fault referred to in the K'ae fung was small, while that referred to in the Siiaou pwan was great. Where the parent's fault was great, not to have murmured at it would have increased the alienation [betweenfatherand son]. AVhere the parent's fault was small, to have murmured at it would have been [like water which frets and foams about a rock that stands in its channel], unable to suffer the interruption to its course. To increase the want of natural affection would have been unfilial ; to have refused to suffer such an interruption [to the ilow of natural affection] would also have been unfilial. 5. " Confucius said, ' Shun was indeed perfectly filial ! Pnr. 2. This is Mencius' vindication of the dissatisfaction and even in dignation expressed in the Seaou pwan. The first shooter well appears as a man of Yueh, a barbarous country in the south, iu whom the beholder could have no interest. Piir. ;$. For the K'ae fung see the Book of Poetry, Part I. iii. Ode VII. That Ode is supposed to be the production of seven sons in the State of Wei, whoso widowed mother could not live quietly and chastely at home ; but they lake all the blame for her conduct to themselves, aiid express no dis satisfaction with her.

Piir. 4. We must think there was room for dissatisfaction in both cases. Meneius' justification of the K'ae fung is an instance in point to show how filial piety in China often dominates other feelings, though he would seem to intimate that, where great public interests are iu question, it should be kept in check. Par. 5. See V. Pt I. i. Even when fifty, he was full of longing desire for [the affec tion of] his parents/ ' TV. 1. Sung K'ang being on his way to Ts'oo, Mencius met him in Shih-k'ew. 2. "Where are you going, respected Sir?" said [Mencius] . 3. [K'ang] replied, " I have heard that Ts'in and Ts'oo are fighting together, and f I am going to see the king of Ts'oo, and advise him to cease hostilities. If he should not be pleased with my advice, I will go and see the king of IVin, and advise him in the same way. Of the two kings I shall [surely] find that I can succeed with one of them." 4. [Mencius] said, " I will not presume to ask the par ticulars, but I should like to hear the scope [of your plan]. What course will you take in advising them ? " "I will tell them," was the reply, " the unprofitableness [of their strife]." "Your aim, Sir," rejoined [Mencius], "is great, but your argument is not good.

5. " If you, respected Sir, starting from the point of profit, offer your counsels to the kings of Tsln and Ts'oo, and they, being pleased with the consideration of profit, should stop the movements of their armies, then all belong ing to those armies will rejoice in the cessation [of war], and find their pleasure in [the pursuit of] profit. Ministers will serve their rulers for the profit of which they cherish the thought ; sons will serve their fathers, and younger On. TV. MENCIUS' WARNING TO SUNG K'A cu ON THE ERROR AND DAN GER OF COUNSELLING THE PRINCES TO ABSTAIN FROM WAR ON THE GROUND OF ITS UNPROFITABLENESS, THE PROPER GKOUND BKING THAT OF BENEVO LENCE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. Compare especially I. Jft I. i., where we have the key-note to much of our philosopher's teaching. Par. \. Sung K'ang, or K'ang of Sung, was one of the travelling scholars of the times, who made it their business to go from State to State to counsel the princes. He was, it is said, a disciple of Mih Teih. Shih-k'ew was in Sung, but where does not seem to be ascertained. Par. 2. " Eespected Sir," is literally " elder born." It would seem that Mencius and K'ang must have had some previous acquaintance. Our phi losopher must have been' travelling at this time in Sung. The hostilities which had called forth K'ang on his mission have been referred to the year B.C. 311.

Pur. 3. Does not Mencius himself in the conclusion bring in the idea of profitableness, when he says that the course which he recommended would raise the kinglet who followed it to the true royal sway ? 330 THE \VOEKS OF MEXCIUS. [fiK VI. brothers will serve their elder brothers, from the same con sideration ; and the issue will be that, abandoning benevo lence and righteousness, ruler and minister, father and son, elder brother and younger, will carry on their intercourse with this thought of profit cherished in their breasts. But never has there been such a state [of society] without ruin being the result of it. 6. " If you, Sir, starting from the ground of benevolence and righteousness, offer your counsels to the kings of Ts'in and Ts'oo, and they, being pleased with benevolence and righteousness, should stop the movements of their armies, then all belonging to those armies will rejoice in the cessa tion [of war], and find their pleasure in benevolence and righteousness. Ministers will serve their rulers from the benevolence and righteousness of which they cherish the thought. Sons will serve their fathers, and younger brothers, will serve their elder brothers, from the name ; — and the issue will be that, abandoning [the thought of] profit, ruler and minister, father and son, elder brother and younger, will carry on their intercourse with benevolence and righteousness cherished in their breasts. But never has there been such a state [of society] without the result of it being the attain ment of true Royal sway. Why must you speak of profit ? "

V. 1. When Mencius was residing in Tsow, the younger brother of [the ruler of] Jin, who was guardian of the State at the time, sent him a gift of [some] pieces of silk, which he received, without [going] to give thanks for it. When he was staying for a time in P'ing-luh, Ch'oo, who was prime-minister [ofTVe], sent him [likewise] a gift of silks, which he received, without [going] to give thanks for it. 2. Subsequently, when he went from Tsow to Jin, he visited the younger brother of the ruler, but when he went from P'ing-luh to [the capital of] Ts'e, he did not visit tho minister Ch'oo. The disciple Uh-loo was glad, and said, "1 have got an opportunity [to obtain some information]/' 3. He asked accordingly, " Master, when you went to CH. V. How MENCIUS REGULATED HIMSELF IN DIFFERENTLY ACKNOW LEDGING DIFFERENT FAVOURS WHICH HE RECEIVED. Pur. ]. Jin,— nee on ch. i. P'iug-luh, — see on II. Pt II. iv. 1. The ruler of Jin must have gone abroad on some State duty or service, leaving his brother guardian of the State for the time. Jin, you visited the ruler's younger brother. Bat when you Avent to [the capital of] Ts'e, you did not visit the minister Ch'oo ; was it because he is [only] the minister ? "

4. [Mencius] replied, "No. It is said in the Book of History, ' In offerings, there are many ceremonial observ ances. If the observances are not equal to the articles, it may be said that there is no offering, there being no service of the will in the offering/ 5. " [This is] because the things [so presented] do not constitute an offering." (5. Uh-loo was pleased; and when some one asked him [what Mencius meant], he said, " The younger brother [of the ruler of Jin] could not go to Tsow, but the minister Chfoo could have gone to P'ing-luh." VI. 1. Shun-yu K'wan, said, "He who makes the fame and real service his first object acts from a regard to others ; he who makes them only secondary objects acts from a regard to himself. You, Master, were ranked among the three high ministers of the kingdom, and before your fame and services had reached either to the ruler or the people, you went away. Is this indeed the way of the benevolent?" Pbr. 4. See the Book of History, V. xiii. 12. Par. 5. This is Mencius' explanation of the passage which he had quoted. Par. 6. Uh-loo now understood the reasons of Mencius' different conduct. By his guardianship the prince of Jin was prevented from leaving the State to go to Tsow ; but the minister of Ts'e could have gone to P'iug-luh which was in that State.

CFI. VI. How MENCIUS REPLIED TO THE INSINUATIONS OF SHUN-YU K'WAN, WHO CONDEMNED HIM FOB LEAVING OFFICE IN Ts'E WITHOUT HAVING ACCOMPLISHED ANYTHING. Par. 1. For Shun-yu K'wan see on IV. Pt I. xvii. He there appears, as here, captiously questioning our philosopher. "Acts from a regard to others;" — i. e., such a man's motive is to benefit others. "Acts from a regard to himself ; " — i. c., such a man is bent on the personal cultivation of himself. " The three high ministers" were those of Instruction, of War, and of Works. The kings of Chow had six high ministers ; but though the princes of Ts'e and other States had usurped the title of king, it would ap pear that their organization of offices had not been fully completed. Some say that in these kingdoms the high ministers were distinguished into three classes, — upper, middle, and lower, without the special designations used in Chow. 2. Mencius replied, " There was Pih-e ; — he abode in an inferior position, and would not with his virtue and talents serve a degenerate ruler. There was E Yin; — he five times went to Tfang, and five times went to Keeh. There was Hwuy of Lew-hea ;— he did not disdain to serve a vile ruler, nor did he decline a small office. The courses pursued by those three worthies were different, but their aim was one. And what was their one aim ? We must answer— benevo lence. And so it is simply after this that superior men strive; — why must they [all] pursue the same [course] t"

3. [K'wan] pursued, " In the time of duke Muh of Loo, the government was in the hands of Kung-e, while Tszelew and Tsze-sze were ministers. [And yet] the dismem berment of Loo increased exceedingly. Such was the case, • — -a specimen of how your men of talents and virtue are of no use to a State ! " 4. [Mencius] replied, " [The dulce of] Yu did not use Pihle He, and [thereby] lost his State ; duke Muh of 'IVin. used him, and became chief of all the princes. The conse quence of not employing men of talents and virtue is ruin ; — how can it end in dismemberment [merely] ? " 5. [K'wan] urged [again], " Formerly, when Wang Paou dwelt on the K'e, the people on the west of the Ho became skilful at singing in his abrupt manner. When Me en. K/eu dwelt in Kaou-t'aug, the people in the west of Ts'e became skilful at singing in his prolonged manner. The wives of Hwa Chow and K'e Leanir bewailed their husbands so Par. 2. For Pih-e, E Yin, and Hwuy of Lew-hea, see II. Pt I. ii. ix. : IV. Pt I. xiii. : V. Pt. II. i. ; ct al.

Par. 3. K'wan here advances in his condemnation of Mencius. He had charged him with having left his office before he had accomplished any thing, but here he insinuates that though he had remained in office, he would not have done anything. Tsze-lew is the same with the Seen Lew of II. Pt II. xi., which paragraph should be compared with this. Kung-e, called Hew, was prime-minister of Loo, — a nvm of merit and principle. The facts of duke Muh's history by no means justify what K'wan alleges here as to the dismemberment of Loo in his time. Par. 4. For Pih-le He see V. Pt I. 9. Par. 5. Of the men here all belonged to Ts'e, except Wang Paou, who was of Wei, in which was the river K'e. Of him and Me'en K'eu little is known. The bravery of K'e Leang and Hwa Chow is much celebrated, and also the virtue of K'e Leang's wife, with the way in which she and the wife of Hwa Chow bewailed their husbands. See a narrative in the Tso Chuen, skilfully that they changed the manners of the State. When there is [the gift] within, it is sure to manifest itself with out. I have never seen the man who could do the deeds [of a worthy] and did not realize the work of one. Therefore there are [now] no men of talents and virtue ; if there were, I should know them."

6. [Mencius] replied, "When Confucius was minister of crime in Loo, [the ruler] came not to follow [his counsels]. Soon after there was the [solstitial] sacrifice, and when a part of the flesh there presented did not come to him, he went away [even] without taking off his cap of ceremony. Those who did not know him supposed that [he went away] because the flesh [did not come to him]. Those who knew him [somewhat] supposed that it was because of the neglect of the [usual] ceremony. The truth was that Confucius wished to go on occasion of some small offence, and did not wish to go without an apparent cause. All men cannot be expected to understand the conduct of a superior man." VII. 1. Mencius said, "The five presidents of the princes were sinners against the three kings. The princes of the present day are sinners against the five presidents. under the 23rd year of duke Sean,? ; the Le Ke, II. Pt II. iii. 1 ; et al. In the citation of these instances, K'wan's object was to insinuate that Mencius was a pretender, because, wherever there was ability, it was sure to come out, and to prove itself by its fruits.

Par. 6. Mencius shields himself by the example of Confucius, imptying that he was beyond the knowledge of a sophist like K'wan. See the Lite of Confucius in Vol. I. CH. VII. THE PROGRESS AND MANNER OF DEGENERACY FROM THE THREE KINGS TO THE FIVE PRESIDKNTS OF THE PRINCES, AND FROM THE FIVE PRESIDENTS OF THE PRINCES TO THE PRINCES AND OFFICERS OF MENCIUS' TIME. Par. 1. "The three kings " are the founders of the three dynasties of He'a, Shang, and Chow. " The five presidents of the princes" were Hwan of Ts'e (B.C. 683—642). Wan of Tain (634—627), Seang of Sung, (649— 636); Muh of Tsin (658—620) ; and Chwang of Ts'oo (612—590). These professed to take the lead and direction of the various States, and exercised really royal functions throughout the kingdom, while yet there was a pro fession of loyal attachment to the house of Chow. There are two enumera tions of the " five presidents ; " — on;; cailed " the presidents of the three dynasties," and one called " the presidents of the Ch'un Ts'ow period : " — only Hwan of Ts'e and Wan of Tsin are common to the two. But Mencius is speaking, probably, only of those included in the second enumeration ; and

334 THE WORKS OF MENCIUS. [fiK VI. The great officers of the present day are sinners against the princes of the present day. 2. "When the son of Heaven visited the princes, it was called 'A. tour of inspection/ When the princes attended at his court, it was called ' A report of office/ In the spring they examined the ploughing, and supplied any deficiency [of seed] ; in the autumn they examined the reaping, and assisted where there was a deficiency [of yield]. When [the son of Heaven] entered the boundaries [of a State], if [new] ground was being reclaimed, and the old fields were well cultivated ; if the old were nourished, and honour shown to men of talents and virtue ; and if men of distinguished ability were placed in office : — then [the ruler] was rewarded, — rewarded with [an addition to his] territory. [On the other hand], if on his entering a State, the ground was found left wild or overrun with weeds; if the old were neglected, and no attention paid to men of talents and virtue ; and if hard tax-gatherers were placed in office : — then [the ruler] was reprimanded. If [a prince] once omitted his attendance at court, he was punished by degrada tion of rank ; if he did so a second time, he wras deprived of a portion of his territory; and if he did so a third time, the royal armies [were set in motion], and he was removed [from his government]. Thus the son of Heaven com manded the punishment, but did not himself inflict it, while the various feudal princes inflicted the punishment, but did not command it. The five presidents, [however,] dragged the princes of the States to attack other princes, and there fore I say that they were sinners against the three kings.

3. " Of the five presidents duke Hwan was the most dis tinguished. At the assembly of the princes in K/wei-k'ew, they bound the victim, and placed the writing [of the covenant] upon it, but did not [slay it], and smear their though there is some difference of opinion in regard to the individuals in the list, the names I have given were, I think, those he had in his mind. " Were sinners against ; " — /. c. violated their principles and ways. Par. '2. See I. Pt II. iv. 5. This par. exhibits the principles and ways of •'the three kings," and concludes by showing how " the live presidents'' violated them. Par. 3. Duke Hwan brought the princes of the States together many times, but no occasion perhaps was greater than the assembly at K'weik'e\v (probably in the present district of K'aou-shing, department K'wei- mouths with its blood. The first article in the covenant was: — c Slay the unfilial ; do not change the son who has been appointed heir ; do not exalt a concubine to the rank of wife.' The second was : — ' Give honour to the worthy, and cherish the talented, — to give distinction to the virtuous/ The third was : — ' Eeverence the old, and be kind to the young ; be not forgetful of visitors and travellers/ The fourth was : — ' Let not offices be hereditary, nor let officers be pluralists ; in the selection of officers let the object be to get the proper men ; let not [a ruler] take it on himself to put a great officer to death.' The fifth was : — ( Follow no crookecl policy in making embankments ; do not restrict the sale of grain ; do not grant any investiture without [first] informing [the king, and getting his sanction].' It was [then] said, ' All we who have united in this covenant shall hereafter maintain amicable relations/ The princes of the present day all violate those five prohibitions, and there fore I say that they are sinners against the five presidents.

4. " The crime of him who connives at and aids the wickedness of his ruler is small, but the crime of him who anticipates and excites that wickedness is great. The great officers of the present day all are guilty of this latter crime, and I say that they are sinners against the princes." VIII. 1. [The ruler of] Loo wanted to employ Shintsze in the command of an army. fang-), in B.C. 650. Mencius, no doubt, selected this because he had a full account of it, which enabled him to exhibit it as a specimen of the principles and ways of the presidents of the States. The object in assembling the princes was to get them to form a covenant with conditions required by the existing state of things in the kingdom. The usual practice at those meet ings was first to dig a square pit over which the victim was slain. Its left ear was then cut off, and placed in a vessel ornamented with pearls, and the blood was received in a vessel of jade. Holding these vessels the president of the assembly read out the articles of the covenant, with his face to the north, announcing them to the Spirits of the sun and moon, the mountains and rivers. After this he and all the others smeared the corners of their mouths with the blood, placed the victim in the pit, with the articles of the covenant upon it, arid then covered it up.

CH. VIII. MENCIUS' OPPOSITION TO THE WARLIKE AMBITION OF THE MARQUIS OF LOO : — A CONVERSATION WITH THE GENERAL SHIN KUH-LE. Par. 1. We do not have much information about the Shin who appears here. According to Sze-ma Ts'een there was, in Mencius' time, a Shin Taou, 2. Mencius said [to Shin], "To employ an uninstructed people [in war] is what is called — destroying the people. A destroyer of the people was not tolerated in the age of Yaou and Shun. 3. " Though by a single battle you should vanquish Ts'e, and so get possession of Xan-yang, the thing ought not to be done." 4. Shin changed countenance, was displeased, and said, " This is what I, Kuh-le, do not understand." 5. [Mencius] said, " I will lay the case plain!}- before you. The territory of the son of Heaven is a thousand le square; — without a thousand le, he would not have enough for his entertainment of the princes. The territory of a prince [of the highest rank] is a hundred le square ; — without a hundred le, he would not have enough wherewith to observe the statutes kept in his ancestral temple. 6. " When the duke of Chow was invested with [the marquisate of] Loo, it was a hundred le square. The terri tory was indeed enough, but it was limited to a hundred le. AVlien T'ae-kung was invested with [the marquisate of] Ts'e, it was also a hundred le square ; — sufficient indeed, but limited to that amount.

7. " Now Loo is five times a hundred le square. If a a native of Chiton, and a writer of the Taonist sect. It is supposed that he had also studied the art of war. and that duke P'ing of Loo now wished to take advantage of his skill. In par. 4, Shin appears to call himself by the name of Kuh-le — which is against his being this Shin Taou. Some there fore say that he had studied under a Mihist professor of the time, who was called K'in Kuh-le, and that we should translate in par. 4 — " This is what [even] Kuh-le does not understand." But Kuh-le there must be Shin's own name. We must leave the question of who he was undetermined. The title of " army-commander " which appears here had come into use in the Ch'un Ts'ew period. P/i>\ 2. Compare what Confucius says in Ana. XIII. xxix. and xxx. Pur. 3. Nan-yang was a tract of country south of mount T'ae, which originally belonged to Loo. but had been taken and appropriated by Ts'e. Duke P'ing of Loo now wanted to take advantage of the difficulties of Ts'e to regain the territory. — The fact of Nan-yang's having originally been Loo territory certainly made it a bad text for Mencius to give his lecture to Shin-tsze on it.

Par. 4. The statutes kept in the ancestral temple would prescribe all things relating to the public sacrifices, the interviews of the ruler of Loo with other princes, and other public matters, the expense of which required a territory of 100 le square to defray them. Par. 6. " Tae-kung; "—see on IV. Ft I. xiii. true king were to arise, whether do you think that Loo would be diminished or increased by him ? 8. "If it were merely taking from one [State] to give to another, a benevolent person would not do it; how much less would he do so, when the thing has to be sought by the slaughter of men ! 9. " The way in which a superior man serves his ruler is simply an earnest endeavour to lead him in the right path, and to direct his mind to benevolence," IX. 1. Mencius said, " Those who now-a-days serve their rulers, say, ' We can for onr ruler enlarge the limits of the cultivated ground, and fill his treasuries and arsenals/ Such men are now-a-da,ys called l Good ministers/ but anciently they were called ' Robbers of the people/ If a ruler is not following the [right] path, nor has his mind bent on benevo lence, to seek to enrich him is to enrich a Keen."

2. " [Or they will say], 'We can for our ruler make engagements with our allied States, so that our battles must be successful/ Such men are now-a-days called ' Good ministers/ but anciently they were called ' Robbers of the people/ If a ruler is not following the [right] path, nor has his mind bent on benevolence, to seek to make him stronger in battle is to help a Keeh. 3. " Although a [ruler], by the path of the present day, and with no change of its practices, were to have all under heaven given to him, he could not keep it for a single morning." X. 1. Pih Kwei said, " I want to take [for the govern- CH. IX. MENCIUS CONDEMNS THE MINISTERS OF HIS TIME FOR PANDER ING TO, AND EVEN ENCOURAGING, THEIR RULERS' THIRST FOR WEALTH AND POWER. This chapter probably owes its place here to its being a sort of sequel to the last paragraph of the preceding one. Par. 1. "We can enlarge the territory of the cultivated ground ; " — compare IV. Pt I. xiv. 3. The territory would be enlarged at the expense of the people, taking their commons from them, and making them labour upon them for the ruler. Chaott K'e takes the phrase as meaning the ap propriation of small States ; — which is not so good.

Par. 4. See IV. Pt 1. xiv. 2. CH. X. AN ORDERED STATE cxs ONLY SUBSIST WITH A PROPER SYSTEM 338 THE WORKS OP MEXCIUS. [fiK VI. ment] only a twentieth [of the produce] ; what do you say to it ? " 2. Mencius replied, ' ' Your way, Sir, would be that of the Mih. 3. " In a State of ten thousand families, would it do to have [only] one potter ? " " No," said the other ; " the vessels would not be enow for use." 4. [Mencius] went on, " In Mih [all] the five kinds of grain are not grown ; — it only produces the millet. There are no fortified cities with their walled suburbs, no great edifices, no ancestral temples, no ceremonies of sacrifice ; there are no feudal princes requiring- gifts of silk and enter tainments ; there is no system of officers with their various subordinate^. On this account a tax of one twentieth of the produce is [there] sufficient. 5. " But now, [as] we live in the middle States, how can such a state of things be thought of, which would do away with the relationships of men, and have no officers of superior rank ?

t). " A State cannot be made to subsist with but few potters; how much less can it be so without men of a superior rank to others ! 7. " If v.Te wish to make the taxation lighter than the system of Yaou and Shun, we shall have a great Mih and a small Mih. If we wish to make it heavier, we shall have the great Keeh and the small Keeh." OF TAXATION ; AND THAT WHICH ORIGINATED WITH YAOU AND SHTJX IS TIIK 1'ROPER ONE FOR CHINA. Pur. 1. Fib Kwei (as appears from next chapter, named Tan) is generally supposed to have been a man of Chow, ascetic in his own habits and fond of innovations. Such is the account of him given by Sze-ma Ts'e'en ; but there are difficulties in the way of our supposing Ts'een's Fih Kwei to be the same as the person who appears here. Par. 2. The Mill were one of the wild tribes lying on the north of the middle States,— the- China of Mencius' time. The name does not occur in the Ch'im Ts'ew, nor in the Tso Chutu. Its territory, lying far north, would lie unfit for most of the kinds of grain. The people would be for the most part nomads, and very inferior in civilization to those of the States of China, though Mencius perhaps rather exaggerates the extent of their barbarism.

J'ar. 7. Under the system of taxation proposed by Pih Kwei, China would become a copy of the Mih ; under a heavier system than that of Yaou and ISliiiu, it would be brought to its state uuder the tyrant Keeh. XI. 1. Pih Kwei said, " My management of the waters is superior to that of Yu." 2. Mencius said, " You are" wrong, Sir. Yu's regulation of the waters was according to the laws of "water. 3. "He therefore made the four seas their receptacle, while you now, Sir, make the neighbouring States their receptacle. 4. " When waters flow out of their natural channels, we have what is called an inundation. Inundating waters form a vast [waste] of water, and are what a benevolent man detests. You are wrong, my good Sir." XII. Mencius said, " If a superior man have not con fidence [in his views], how shall he take a firm hold [of things] ? " XIII. 1. [The ruler of] Loo wishing to commit the administration of his government to the disciple Yoh-ching, Mencius said, " When I heard of it, I was so glad that I could not sleep." 2. Kung-sun Ch'ow said, "Is Yoh-ching a man of vigour ?" " No." " Is he wise in council ? " " No." " Is he a man of much information ? " " No."

3. " What then made you so glad that you could not sleep ? " 4. " He is a man who loves what is good," was the reply. CH. XI. PIH KWEI'S PRESUMPTUOUS IDEA THAT HE COULD EEGULATE INUNDATIONS OF THE RIVERS BETTER THAN YU HAD DONE. There must have been some partial inundations at this time, and Pih Kwei had been called in to remedy them. This he had done in an unsatisfactory way, benefiting one State at the expense of others. CH. XII. FAITH IN PRINCIPLES is NECESSARY TO FIRMNESS IN ACTION. CH. XIII. OF WHAT IMPORTANCE IT IS TO A MINISTER — TO GOVERNMENT • — TO LOVE WHAT IS GOOD. Par, 1. Yoh-ching,— see I. Pt ll.xvi.; et al. Par. 2. The three gifts mentioned here were those generally considered mosf important to government, and Kung-sun Ch'ow, knowing Yoh-ching to be deficient in them, shaped his questions accordingly. Par. 4. On this it is said : — " In the administration of government, the most excellent quality is without prejudice and dispassionately to receive 5. " Is the love of what is good sufficient ? " 6. [Mencius] replied, "The love of what is good is more than a sufficient qualification for the government of the whole kingdom ; how much more is it so for the State of Loo !

7. "If [a minister] love what is good, then all within the four seas will think a thousand le but a small distance to come and lay [their thoughts about] what is good before him . 8. " If he do not love what is good, men will say, ' How self-conceited lie looks! [He is saying], " I know it." The language and looks of that self-conceit will repel men to more than the distance of a thousand le. When good men stop more than a thousand le off, calumniators, flatterers, and sycophants will make their appearance. When [a minister] lives with calumniators, flatterers, and sycophants about him, though he may wish the State to be well governed, is it possible for it to be so ? " XIV. I. The disciple Cli'in said, "What were the principles on which superior men of old took office ? " Mencius said, " There were three cases in which they accepted office, and three in which they left it. 2. "If received with the utmost respect and all courteous observances, and they could say [to themselves] that [the ruler] would carry their words into practice, then they went to him [and took office]. [Afterwards], though there might be no remission of the courteous observances, if their words were not carried into practice, they left him.

3. " The second case was that in which, though [the ruler] could not [be expected] at once to carry their words into practice, yet being received by him with the utmost what is good. Xow Yoh-ching in his heart sincerely loved all good words and good actions." On. XIV. THE GROUNDS ON WHICH WORTHIES OF OLD TOOK OFFICE OK LEFT IT. Par. 1. "The disciple Ch'iu" here was the Ch'in Ts'in of II. Pt II. iii. Purr. 2 — 4. Compare V. Pt II. iv. 7. There Confucius appears as having taken office on all the grounds mentioned here. In this chapter our philo sopher enters more into the grounds why the office once undertaken should ay;ain be abandoned ; — if in the third case we can speak of office having been taken. respect and all courteous observances, they went to him [and took office]. [But afterwards], if there was a remis sion of the courteous observances, they left him. 4. " The last case was that of [the superior man] who had nothing to eat either morning or evening, and was so famished that he could not move out of his door. If the ruler, on hearing of his state, said, ' I must fail of the great point, — that of carrying his principles into practice, and moreover I cannot follow his words, but I am ashamed to allow him to starve in my country/ and so assisted him, the help might be accepted in such a case, but not beyond what was sufficient to avert death. "

XV. 1. Mencius said, " Shun rose [to the empire] from among the channeled fields. Foo Yueh was called to office from the midst of his [building] frames and [earth-] beaters ; Kaou Kih from his fish and salt ; Kwan E-woo from the hands of the officer in charge of him ; Sun Shuh- CH. XV. TRIALS AND HARDSHIPS THE WAY IN WHICH HEAVEN PRE PARES MEN FOR GREAT SERVICES. ILLUSTRATED BY THE CASES OF SEVERAL EMINENT WORTHIES OF FORMER TIMES. Par. 1. The rise of Shun is well known ; — see the 1st part of the Book of History. Foo Yueh, — see the Book of History, Part IV. viii., where it is related that king Kaou-tsung, having dreamt that " God gave him a good assistant," caused a picture of the man he had seen in his dream to be made, and search made for him through the kingdom, when he was found dwelling in the wilderness of Foo-yen. Sze-ma Ts'een says that the surname of the man was given in the dream as Foo, and his name as Yueh, which the king interpreted as meaning, that he would be a "tutor" (foci) to himself, and a "blessing" (yveh) to the people. Kaou Kih is mentioned in II. Pt I. i. 8, as an able assistant of the last king of Yin. In the disorders and misgovernment of that king Kaou Kih had retired to obscurity, and was dis covered by the lord of Chow in the guise of a seller of fish and salt, and induced to take office under the king, with whom Kih continued faithful to the last.

Kwan E-woo was the chief minister of duke Hwan of Ts'e ; — see II. Pt I. i. ; ct al. He was carried from Loo to Ts'e in a cage, Hwan having de manded his surrender that he might have the pleasure of putting him to death ; but he met him outside the city and raised him to the greatest dis tinction. Shuh-sun Gaou was chief minister to king Chwang of Ts'oo, one of the five presidents of the States. He appears in the narratives of the Tso Chuen (see Book VII. xi. ; et al.) as Wei Gae-leeh. He belonged to one of the principal families of Ts'oo ; but being at one time treated with neglect by the king, he had retired into obscurity, and lived somewhere (it must have been out of Ts'oo) on the sea-coast. The events of his life at this time, however, are all but lost to history. Afterwards, he did good serv- 342 THE WORKS OP HEXCIUS. [fiK VI. gaou from [his hiding by] the sea-shore; and Pih-le He from the market-place. 2. " Thus, when Heaven is about to confer a great office on any one, it first exercises his mind with suffering, and his sinews and bones with toil; it exposes his body to hunger, and subjects him to extreme poverty; and it confounds his undertakings. In all these ways it stimulates his mind, hardens his nature, and supplies his incompetencies.

3. " Men constantly err, but are afterwards able to reform. They are distressed in mind, and perplexed in thought, and then they ariso to vigorous endeavour. When things have been evidenced in men's looks, and set forth in their words, then they understand them. 4. "If a ruler have not about his court families attached to the laws and able officers, and if abroad there are no hostile States or other external calamities, the State will generally come to ruin. 5. " From such things we see how life springs from sorrow and calamity, and death from ease and pleasure." XVI. Mencius said, " There are many arts in teaching. I refuse, as inconsistent with my character, to teach a man, but I am only thereby still teaching him/' ice to the State. Sun-shuh must have been his designation originally, and Gaou was the name of an office in Ts'oo, — probably the sound of its appellation in the original language of the country. Pih-le He, — see V. Pt I. ix. Par. 3. This par. is intended to show that the same thing may in a man ner be predicated of ordinary men. The concluding part seems to say that though most men are not quick of apprehension, yet when things are brought clearly before them, they can lay hold of them.

Par. 4. The same thing is true of a State. " Families attached to the laws "will not readily submit to the infraction of those laws without re monstrating, and their feelings will find a voice in the "able counsellors." This will stimulate the ruler's mind ; and foreign danger will make him careful, and rouse him to exertion. CH. XVI. THAT A REFUSAL TO TEACH MAY BE TEACHING. Thera is a sufficient example of what Mencius states here in the second chapter. TSIN SIN. PAUl' I. CHAPTER I. 1. Mencius said, " He who has exhaustively studied all his mental constitution knows his nature. Knowing his nature, he knows Heaven. 2. "To preserve one's mental constitution, and nourish one's nature, is the way to serve Heaven. 3. " When neither [the thought] of premature death nor TITLE OF THIS BOOK. Like the previous Books, this is named from the commencing words — Tsin tiin, "The exhausting of all the mental constitu tion." It contains many more chapters than any of the others, — brief, enigmatical sentences for the most part, conveying Mencius' views on human nature. It is more abstruse also, and the student will have much difficulty in satisfying himself that he lias hit the exact meaning of our philoso pher. The author of " The Root and Relish of the four Books " says : — " This Book was made by Mencius in his old age. Its style is terse, and its meaning deep, and we cannot discover an order of subjects in its chapters. He had completed the previous chapters, and this grew up under his stylus, as his mind was affected, and he was prompted to give expression to his thoughts. The first chapter, however, may be regarded as a compendium of the whole."

CH. I. BY THE KNOWLEDGE OF OURSELVES WE COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF HEAVEN, AND HEAVEN is SERVED BY OUR OBEYING OUR NATURE. Par. 1. "To exhaust our mental constitution" is, I conceive, to make one's-self acquainted with all his mental constitution, having arrested his consciousness, and ascertained what it is. This of course gives a man the knowledge of his nature ; and as he is the creature of Heaven, its attributes must be corresponding. I can get no other meaning from this paragraph. Clioo He, however, and all his school, say that there is no work or labour in "exhausting the mental constitution;" — that it is " the extension to the utmost of knowledge" of the 1st chapter of "The Great Learning ; " and that all the labour is in " knowing the nature," which is "the investigation of things "of that chapter. On this view we should translate, " He who completely developes his mental constitution has known (come to know) his nature ; " but this is a forced construction of the text. Par. 2. The " preservation " is the holding fast that which we have from. Heaven, and the " nourishing " is the acting in accordance therewith, so that the "serving Heaven " is just the being and doing what It has intimated in our constitution to be Its will concerning us.

Par. 3. Man's " [Heaven-Jordained being " is his nature according to the opening words of " The Doctrine of the Mean ; " — " What Heaven has con- [that] of long life causes a man any double-mindedness, but lie waits in the cultivation of himself for whichever issue, — this -is the way in which he establishes his [Heaven-] ordain ed being." II. 1. Mencius said, " There is an appointment for everything, A man should submissively receive what is correctly ascribed thereto. 2. " Therefore, he who knows what is [Heaven's] appoint ment will not stand beneath a dangerous wall. ferrerl is called THE NATURE." " Establishing " this means "keeping entire what Heaven has conferred upon us, and not injuring it by any doing of our own." It may be well to give the remarks of Chaou K'e on this chapter. On the 1st par. he says : — " To the nature there belong the principles of benevo lence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge. The mind is designed to regulate them. When the mind is correct, a man can put it all forth in thinking of doing good, and then he may be said to know his nature. When he knows his nature, then he knows how the way of Heaven considers as excellent what is good."

On the 2nd par. lie says : — "When one is able to preserve his mind and nourish his correct [nature}, he may be called a man of perfect virtue. The way of Heaven loves life, and the perfect man also loves life. The way of Heaven is without partiality, and only approves of the virtuous. [Thus} the acting [of the perfect man] agrees with Heaven, and therefore it is said, ' This is the way by which he serves Heaven.' '' On the 3rd par. he says : — i; ' Double ' means two. The perfect man in liis conduct is guided by one rule simph'. Although he sees that some who have gone before him have been short-lived, and some long-lived, he never has two minds or changes his way. Let life be short like that of Yen Yuen, or long like that of the duke of Shaou. he refers both eases equally to the appointment of Heaven, and cultivates and rectifies his own person to wait for that. It is in this way that he establishes the root of [Heaven's} appointments." The differences between these interpretations and those of Choo He may well lead the foreign student to put forth his strength on the study of the text more than on the commentaries.

CH. II. MAN'S DUTY AS AFFECTED BY THE DECREES OR APPOINT:,: KNTS OF HEAVEN. WHAT .MAY BE CORKECTLY ASCRIBED TO THOSE, AND WHAT NOT. Choo He says this is a continuation of the last chapter, developing the meaning of its concluding paragraph. There is a connexion between the chapters, but Heaven's decree or appointment is here taken more widely, as extending not only to man's nature, but to all the events that befall him. Par. 1. '-A man should submissively receive what may be correctly as cribed to appointment " is, literally, •' a man should submissively receive the correct appointment." The correct appointment is that which is directly from the will of Heaven ; and no consequence flowing from evil or careless conduct is to be understood as being so. 3. " Death sustained in the fulfilment of one's proper course may correctly be ascribed to the appointment [of Heaven] . 4. " Death under handcuffs and fetters cannot correctly be so ascribed." III. 1. Mencius said, "When we get by our seeking, and lose by our neglecting, in that case seeking is of use to getting; — the things sought are those which are in ourselves. 2. " When the seeking is according to the proper course, and the getting is [only] as appointed, in that case the seeking is of no use to getting ; — the things sought are with out ourselves."

IV. 1. Mencius said, "All things are already complete in us. 2. " There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination. 3. "If one acts with a vigorous effort at the law of reci- Par, 4. The handcuffs or fetters are understood to be those of an evil doer. — There is important truth underlying this chapter. Compare with it various passages in the 1st Epistle of Peter. CH. III. VIRTUE is SURE TO BE POUND BY SEEKING IT, BUT RICHES AND The general sentiment of this chapter is good, but truth is sacrificed to the point of the antithesis, when it is said in the second case that seeking is of no use to getting. The things " in ourselves " are the virtues of benevo lence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge, — the endowments proper of our nature. Those "without ourselves " are riches and dignities. The "proper course " to seek them is that ascribed to Confucius, — " Advancing according to propriety, and retiring according to righteousness ; " but yet they are not at our command and control. Chaou K'e appropriately quotes in reference to them the words of the sage in Ana. VII. xi., " as the search may not be successful, I will follow after that which I love."

CH. IV. MAN is FITTED FOR AND HAPPY IN DOING GOOD, AND MAY BE- Par. 1. This brief saying is quite mystical. The "all things " are taken as " the radical nature of the reasons of things," and then the things must be further restricted to the relations of society and the duties belonging to them. If we extend them farther, we only get perplexed. Par. 2. The " sincerity " is that so largely treated of in the Doctrine of the Mean. Par. 3. For "the law of reciprocity" see Ana. XV. xxiii. To have 3iG THE WORKS OP MEXCIUS. [fiK VII. procity, nothing, when he seeks for [the realization of] perfect virtue, can be closer than his approximation to it." V. Mencius said, " They do the thing, without clearly knowing [its propriety] ; they practise the doing, without discriminating [the reason of it] ; they [thus] pursue the path all their life, without knowing its nature : — this is the case of multitudes/' VI. Mencius said, " A man should not be without shame. When a man is ashamed of having been without shame, he will [afterwards] not have [occasion for] shame.'" VII. 1. Mencius said, " The sense of shame is to a man of great importance.

2. " Those who form contrivances and versatile schemes distinguished for their artfulness do not allow their sense of shame to come into action. 3. " When one differs from other men in not having this sense of shame, what will he have in common with them ? " complete sincerity, it is said, would be perfect virtue. Where there is some thing wanting in this, the way is to act vigorously on the law of reciprocity. CH. V. MANY MAT ACT RIGHTLY WITHOUT KNOWING WHY THEY DO so. It would be easier to understand such chapters as this, if we had before us the conversation or discussion out of which they grew, and of which they contain Mencius' own condensed summary. CH. VI. THE VALUE OP THE FEELING OF SHAME. A wise and deep utterance. CH. VII. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FEELING OF SHAME, AND THE CON SEQUENCE OF BEING WITHOUT IT. The former chapter, it is said, was by way of exhortation ; and this is by way of warning. Par. 2. In this Mencius may have been aiming at the wandering scholars of his time, who were full of plots and schemes to unite and disunite the various kinglets. Chaou K'e supposes that the inventors of destructive engines for purposes of war are intended. It is implied that if those parties had the sense of shame, they would not form such plots nor make such engines.

Par. 3. Choo He gives another view of this par., as also admissible ; — " If a man be not ashamed of not being like other men, how will he be able to be like them ? " This is Chaou K'e's view generalized. VIII. Mcncius said, " The able and virtuous monarclis of antiquity loved what was good and forgot ("their own] power. And shall an exception be made of the able and virtuous scholars of antiquity— that they did not act in a similar way ? They delighted in their own principles, and forgot the power [of princes]. Therefore, if kings and. dukes did not cherish the utmost respect [for them] and observe all forms of ceremony, they were not permitted to see them fre quently. If they found it not in their power to see them frequently, how much less could they get to employ them as ministers ! " IX. 1. Mencius said, to SungKow-tseen, "Are you fond, Sir, of travelling [to the different courts] ? I will tell you about [such] travelling. 2. "If any [of the princes] acknowledge you [and follow your counsels], look perfectly satisfied. If no one do so, still do the same."

3. [The other] asked, " What must I do that I may always wear this look of perfect satisfaction ? " " Honour virtue/' was the reply, " and delight in righteousness ; and so you may [always] appear to be perfectly satisfied. 4. " So it is that a scholar, though he may be poor, does not let go his righteousness, and, though prosperous, does not leave [his own] path. 5. " Poor and not letting go his righteousness ; — it is thus that the scholar holds possession of himself. Prosperous, CH. VIII. HOW THE ANCIENT SCHOLARS MAINTAINED THEIR DIGNITY AND RESERVE. AND HOW THE ANCIENT KINGS APPRECIATED THEM. Mencius had, no doubt, in mind in these remarks to indicate his own character and course, and to condemn the wandering scholars of his time. CH. IX. HOW AN ADVISER OF THE PRINCES MIGHT ALWAYS APPEAR PERFECTLY SATISFIED ; — ILLUSTRATED BY THE EXAMPLE OF THE SCHOLARS OF ANTIQUITY. Par. 1. Nothing is known of Sung Kow-tseen beyond what appears here. He was, we may assume, like Sung K'ang (VI. Pt II. iv.) one of the adven turers who travelled about tendering their advice to the different princes. Pa?: 5. " Holds possession of himself ; " — Chaou K'e expounds : — •' Holds possession of his proper nature." Rather it is — holds possession of himself as described in par. 3, " honouring virtue, and delighting in righteousness." Choo He says : — " This chapter shows how the scholar, attaching weight to what is internal, and holding what is external light, will approve himself good in all places and circumstances."

and not leaving [his own] path; — it is thus that the expect ations of the people [from him] are not disappointed. 6. " When the men of antiquity realized their wishes, benefits accrued [from them] to the people. When the}7 did not realize their wishes, they cultivated their personal cha racter, and became illustrious in the world. When poor, they attended to the improvement of themselves in solitude ; when advanced to dignity, they promoted the improvement of all under heaven as well." X. Mencius said, " The mass of men wait for a king Wan, and then receive a rousing impulse. Scholars distinguished from the mass, even without a king Wan, rouse themselves." XI. Mencius said, "Add to a man [the wealth of] the families of Han and Wei, and, if he [still] look upon himself without being elated, he is far beyond [the mass of] men." XII. Mencius said, " Let the people be employed in the way which is intended to secure their ease, and, though they be toiled, they will not murmur. Let them be put to death in the way which is intended to preserve their lives, and, ; though they die, they will not murmur."

XIII. 1. Mencius said, " Under a president of the States, CH. X. HOW SUPERIOR PEOPLE GET THEIR INSPIRATION TO GOOD IN THEMSELVES. " The mass of men " is literally " all men ; " i. e.} ordinary people. CH. XI. NOT TO BE ELATED BY GREAT RICHES IS A PROOF OF EEAL SUPERIORITY. The word " add," especially the Chinese term here so rendered, implies that the person here spoken of is already wealthy. Han and Wei were two of the six great families of the State of Tsin, — of whom some account is given on I. Pt I. i. 1. CH. XII. WHEN A RULER'S AIM is EVIDENTLY THE PEOPLE'S GOOD, THEY The first part is explained rightly of toils in agriculture, road-making, bridge-making, &c. ; and the second is supposed to refer to the administra tion of justice, but I should prefer thinking that Mencius had the idea of a just war before him. Compare Ana. XX. ii. 2. CH. XIII. THE INFLUENCE EXERTED BY A TRUE SOVEREIGN AND HIS the people look brisk and cheerful ; under a true king they have an air of deep contentment. 2. " Though he slay them, they do not murmur ; when he benefits them, they do not think of his merit. From day to day they make progress towards what is good, without know ing who makes them do so.

3. " Wherever the superior man passes through, transform ation follows ; wherever he abides, his influence is of a spiritual nature. It flows abroad, above, and beneath like that of heaven and earth. How can it be said that he mends [society] but in a small way ? " XIV. 1. Mencius said, " Kindly words do not enter into men so deeply as a reputation for kindness. RULE. THE DIFFERENT AND INFERIOR INFLUENCE OF A PRESIDENT OF THE STATES. Par. 1. "Brisk and cheerful;" — but the permanence of this cannot be looked for. In illustration of the condition and appearance of the people under a true sovereign, commentators generally quote a tradition of their state under Yaou, when " entire harmony reigned under heaven, and the lives of the people passed easily away." Then the old men struck the clods, and sang : — " We rise at sunrise, We rest at sunset, Dig wells and drink, Till our fields and eat ; — What is the strength of the emperor to us ? " Par. 2. There is the same difficulty in interpreting the first clause here of the administration of justice, which I have adverted to in the note on ch. xii.

Par. 3. " The superior man " has the highest meaning of which the phrase is susceptible, and = a sage, and even a sage on the throne. In the influence of Shun in the time of his obscurity, when the ploughmen yielded the furrow among themselves, and the potters made their vessels all sound, we have an example, it is said, of a sage's transforming influence wherever he passed through, or resided for a time. In what would have been the influence of Confucius, had he been in the position of a ruler, as described in Ana. XIX. xxv. 4, we have, it is said, an example of the spiritual nature of a sage, wherever he abides. A " spiritual " influence is one which is wonder ful and mysterious, great but not palpable, like the plastic energy of nature, — the growth and transformations constantly going on under heaven and earth. These last terms show that a pantheistic view of the universe had come, at times at least, to supersede the idea of the operation of a personal God. On. XIV. THE VALUE TO A RULER OF A GOOD REPUTATION AND OF 350 THE WORKS OF MENCIUS. [fiK VII.

2. " Good government does not lay hold of the people so much as good instructions. 3. " Good government is feared by the people, [but] good instructions are loved by them. Good government gets the people's wealth, [but] good instructions get their hearts.'' XV. 1. Mencius said, " The ability possessed by men with out having been acquired by learning is their intuitive ability, and the knowledge possessed by them without the exercise of thought is their intuitive knowledge. 2. " Children carried in the arms all know to love their parents ; and when they are grown [a little], they all know to respect their elder brothers. 3. " Filial affection for parents is benevolence ; respect for elders is righteousness. There is no other [cause for these feelings] ; —they belong to all under heaven." XVI. Mencius said, " When Shun was living amidst the deep retired mountains, dwelling with the trees and rocks, and wandering with the deer and swine, the difference between him and the rude inhabitants of those remote hills was very small. But when he heard a single good word, or Par. 1. Kind])' words are but brief, and on an occasion. A reputation for kindness is the growth of time and of many evidences.

Par. 2. "Good government'' refers to the various enactments of law, affecting the external condition of the people "Good instructions " are the lessons of duty, which should be impressed in connexion with these. — - Commentators, to make out a connexion between this par. and the former, say that the " good reputation " has grown out of the good government. Pur. 3. Compare Ana. II. iii. Cn. XV. BENEVOLENCE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS PROVED KY THE CASE OF CHILDREN TO BE NATURAL TO MAN, AND PARTS OF HIS CONSTITUTION. Par. 1. The phrases translated " intuitive ability," " intuitive knowledge " have also the idea of (jiiodin-itH in them. Par. :',. The latter half of this paragraph is by no means clear, or easily translated. I have given Clioo He's view of it. Chaou K'e says : — • " Those who wish to do good have nothing else to do but to extend these ways of children to all under heaven." Cn. XVI. How WHAT SHUN WAS DISCOVERED ITSELF IN HIS GREATEST OBSCURITY. Shuu's emotion of mind was as here pictured. saw a single good action, he was like the Keang or the Ho, bursting its banks, and grandly flowing out in an irresistible flood."

XVII. Mencius said, " Let a man not do what [his sense of righteousness tells him] not to do, and let him not desire what [the same sense tells him] not to desire : — to act thus is all that he has to do." XVIII. 1. Mencius said, "When men are possessed of intelligent virtue and prudence in the management of affairs, it generally arises from their having been in distress. 2. " They are the friendless minister and the despised con cubine's son who keep their hearts under 'a sense of peril, and use deep precautions against calamity. They become in consequence distinguished for their intelligence." XIX. 1. Mencius said, "There are persons who serve the ruler ; — they serve the ruler, that is, for the sake of his countenance and favour. 2. " There are ministers who seek the safety of the altars; — they find their pleasure in securing that tranquillity. 3. "There are those who are the people of Heaven; — • [judging that], if they were in office, they could carry out [their principles] all under heaven, they proceed [so] to carry them out. CH. XVII. MAN'S WHOLE DUTY is TO OBEY THE LAW IN HIMSELF.

It would not be easy to make this utterance intelligible without supple ment. Chaou interprets and supplies thus : " Do not make a man do what you yourself do not do," &c. CH. XVIII. THE BENEFITS OF TROUBLE AND AFFLICTION ; — ILLUSTRATED. Compare VI. Pt II. xv. CH. XIX. FOUR DIFFERENT CLASSES OF MINISTERS : — THE MERCENARY ; THE LOYAL ; THE UNSELFISH AND FAR-REACHING ; THE TRULY GKKAT. Par. 1. Mencius speaks of this class as only " persons," — in contempt. Par. 2. Compare Ft II. xiv. Par. 3. Compare V. Pt I. vii. 5, though some contend that " the people of Heaven " has a wider meaning there than here. The phrase here denotes men who are contented with their position in obscurity, and would continue all their life in it, but are prepared at the same time to go forth to public duty, when they see the call. 4. " There are those who are great men • — they rectify themselves, aud [all] things are rectified.'"' XX. 1. Mencius said, " The superior man has three things in which he delights, and to be sovereign over all under heaven is not one of them.

2. " That his father and mother are both alive, and that his brothers afford no cause [for distress of mind] ; — this is his first delight. 3. " That, when looking np, he has no occasion for shame before Heaven, and, below, he has no occasion to blush before men; — this is his second delight. 4. " That he gets hold of the individuals of the most superior abilities in the kingdom, and teaches and nourishes them ; — this is his third delight. 5. "The superior man has three things in which he delights, and to be sovereign over all under heaven is not one of them." XXI. t. Mencius said, " Wide territory and a numerous people are desired by the superior man, but what he delights in is not here. 2. " To stand in the centre of the kingdom and give tranquillity to the people within the four seas is an occasion of delight to the superior man ; but [the highest element of] what belongs to him by his nature is not here. Pur. 4. The " [all] things," must be understood first of the ruler and people. CH. XX. THE THREE THINGS WHICH THE SUPERIOR MAN DELIGHTS ix. ROYAL SWAY is NOT ONE OF THEM. A very fine chapter.

CH. XXI. MAX'S NATURE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO HIM. AND THE SOUKCE OF KIS GRKATKST EXJOYMEN'T. ITS CONSTITUENTS AND THKIR MANIFESTATION". This also is a fine chapter, but it is not so intelligible as the last. There is a mistiness about the two last paragraphs. Par. 1. This describes the condition of the lord of a large State, who has many opportunites of doing good. Why he should not delight in it, as much as the subject of the next paragraph in his condition, I do not see. Pur. '2. The subject of this par. is a true king, and why he should delight in his condition contrary to the dictum in par. 1 of last chapter, I do not se.3. " What belongs to his nature " would appear to be here as much as in the manifestations of it mentioned in par. 4. PT I. Cfl. XXII.] TSIN SIN. 353 3. " What belongs to the superior man by his nature can not be increased by the largeness of his sphere of action, nor diminished by his being in poverty and retirement ; — for this reason^ that it is deterruinately apportioned to him [by Heaven] .

4. " What belong to the superior man are — benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge, rooted in his heart. Their growth and manifestation are a mild harmony appear ing in the countenance, a rich fulness in the back, and the character imparted to the four limbs. The four limbs under stand [their several motions] without being told." XXII. 1. .Mencius said, " Pih-e, that he might avoid [the tyrant] Chow, was dwelling on the coast of the northern sea. When he heard of the rise of king Wjin, he roused himself and said, ' Why should I not attach myself to him ? I have heard that the chief of the West knows well how to nourish the old/ T'ae-kung, that he might avoid Chow, was dwell ing on the coast of the eastern sea. When he heard of the rise of king Wan, he roused himself, and said, ' Why should I not attach myself to him ? I have heard that the chief of the West knows well how to nourish the old.' If in the king dom there were [now] a prince who knew well how to nour ish the old, benevolent men would consider that he was the proper object for them to gather to.

2. " Around the homestead with its five mow, the space at the foot of the walls was planted with mulberry trees, with which the [farmer's] wife nourished silkworms, and thus the old were able to have silk to wear. When the five broodPar. 3. Does Mencius mean to say that the nature, being given from Heaven complete, cannot, where it is cherished, be added to or improved from without by any course of its possessor ? What he seems to assert would need to be more clearly denned. Par. 4. Here our philosopher is more magniloquent than precise. The last sentence means that the limbs are instantaneously obedient to the will. CH. XXII. THE GOVERNMENT OP KING WAN, BY WHICH HE SHOWED THAT HE KNEW WELL HOW TO SUPPORT THE OLD. Par. 1. See IV. Ft I. xiii. 1. Par. 2. This par. is to be translated historically, as it describes king Wan's government. See I. Pt I. iii. 4 ; ct al. Mencius has not mentioned before the number of brood hens and sows required to be kept by each family. liens and the two brood-sows [of each family] were kept to their [breeding] seasons, the old were able to have flesh to eat. The husbandmen cultivated their fields of a hundred moiv, and their families of eight mouths were secured against want.

3. " The expression, ' The chief of the West knows well how to nourish the old/ referred to his regulations about the fields and dwellings, his teaching [the farmers] to plant [the mulberry tree] , and nourish [those animals] ; his instructing their wives and children, so that they should nourish their aged. At fifty warmth cannot be maintained without silks ; and at seventy flesh is necessary to satisfy the appetite. [The aged], not kept warm, nor well supplied with food, are said to be ' starved and famished/ but among the people of king Wan there were no aged in that condition. — This was the meaning of that expression." XXIII. 1 . Mencius said, " Let it be seen to that their fields of grain and flax are well cultivated, and make the taxes on them light : — so the people may be made rich. 2. " Let [the people] use their resources of food seasonably and expend them [only] on the prescribed ceremonies : — so they will be more than can be consumed. 3. " The people cannot live without water and fire ; yet, if you knock at a man's door in the dusk of the evening, and ask for water and fire, there is no one who will not give them, such is the great abundance of them. A sage would govern the kingdom so as to cause pulse- and millet to be as abundant as fire and water. When pulse and millet are as abundant as fire and water, how shall there be among the people any that are not virtuous ? " >

Pur. 3. By " fields '' we are to understand the allotments of 100 mow, and by " dwellings," the homesteads, each with its five mom. CH. XXIII. THE FIRST CARE OF A GOVERNMENT, TO PROMOTE THE vm- TCK UK THE PEOPLE, SHOULD BE TO MAKE THEM WELL OFF ; AND HOW THIS Is TO BE DONE. P.n-.-l. "Seasonably;" — see I. Pt I. iii. 3, 4. The " prescribed cere monies " would be the occasions of capping, marriage, funerals, &c., excepting on which a strict economy was to be observed. 1' '//•. 3. With the concluding sentiment compare VI. Pt I. vii. 1 ; et al. XXIV. 1. Mencius said, " Confucius ascended the eastern hill, and Loo appeared to him small. He ascended the T'ae mountain, and all beneath the heavens appeared to him small. So, he who has contemplated the sea finds it difficult to think anything of other waters ; and he who has been a student in the gate of the sage finds it difficult to think anything of the words of others. 2. " There is an art in the contemplation of water; — it is necessary to contemplate its swelling waves. When the sun or the moon is at its brightest, its light admitted [even] through an orifice is sure to illuminate.

3. " Flowing water is a thing which does not proceed till it has filled the hollows [in its course]. The student who has set his mind on the doctrines [of the sage] does not come to the understanding of them but by completing one lesson after another." CH. XXIV. THE DOCTRINES OF THE SAGE, THOUGH GREAT, HAVE THEIR RADICAL PRINCIPLES, AND THE STUDENT CAN GET A KNOWLEDGE OF THEM ONLY BY A GRADUAL PROCESS. Par. 1. The higher one is, the smaller does what is beneath him appear to be ; the more familiar we are with what is great, the more difficult do we find it to appreciate what is small. This appears to be the lesson in this paragraph, which is aptly compared to the allitsire stanzas and odes in the Book of Poetry ; the whole being designed to impress the mind with the greatness of the doctrines of the sage, — of Confucius, by way of eminence. There is a difficulty in identifying what is here called " the eastern hill." Some will have it to be a small hill, called Fang, in the present district of K'euh-fow, at the foot of which Confucius' parents were buried ; others, the Mung hill (Ana. XVI. i. 4), in the district of Pe, department E-chow. Mount T'ae was the chief of the five great mountains of China. It lay on the extreme east of Ts'e, — in the present department of T'ae-gan, and about two miles from the city of that name. A place is shown on the mountain, barely half way to its summit, as the point to which Confucius ascended ; but there is a temple to him, now sadly dilapidated, near the summit itself. Confucius, no doubt, would go to the very top of it.

Par. 2. The lesson here seems to be that the very greatness of the sage's doctrines must lead us to think of their elementary principles. Who can look at the foaming waves, and suppose that they are fortuitous and sourceless ? The full-orbed sun or moon is so bright that we can hardly look at it, but its light evidences itself even through the smallest orifice. This par. is compared to the metaphorical stanzas and odes in the Book of Poetry. Par. 3. This par. is the practical application of the chapter. " Flowing water ; " — see IV. Pt II. xviii. 2. " The student " is, literally, " the su perior man," — meaning such a man bent on learning the doctrines of the sage. XXV. 1. Mencius said, " He who rises at cock-crow, and addresses himself earnestly to the practice of what is good, is a disciple of Shun. 2. " He who rises at cock-crow, and addresses himself earnestly to the pursuit of gain, is a disciple of Chih. 3. ' ' If you want to know what separated Shun from Chih it was nothing but this, — the interval between [the thought of] gain and [the thought of] goodness."

XXVI. 1. Mencius said, "The principle of Yang-tsze was — ' Each one for himself.' Though by plucking out one hair he might have benefited all under heaven, he would not have done it. 2. " Mih-tsze loves all equally. If, by rubbing [bare all his body] from the crown to the heel, he could have benefit ed all under heaven, he would have done it. 3. " Tsze-moh holds a medium [between these], and by holding that medium he is nearer the right. But by holding it without leaving room for the exigency of circumstances, it becomes like their holding their one point. 4. " What I dislike in that holding one point is the in- CH. XXV. THE DIFFERENT RESULTS OF THE THOUGHT OF GOODNESS Par. 1. " A disciple of Shun ; " — I. <?., although such a man may not himself attain to be a sage, he is treading in the steps of one. Par. 2. " Chih ; "—see III. Ft II. x. 3. CH. XXVI. THE EREOES OF YANO-TSZE, MIH-TSZE, AND TSZE-MOH. OHSTINATE ADHEEENCE TO A PRINCIPLE, IRRESPECTIVE OF ALL OPPOSING CONSIDERATIONS, IS VERY PERILOUS. Par. 1. Yang-tsze is the Yang Choo of III. ii. ix. 3 ;— see what I have said on him in the prolegomena. One of the paragraphs there, exhibiting his sayings and views, contains the words here used to describe his principle by Menoius. It was, no doubt, current among scholars.

Par. 2. Mih-tsze has appeared already in III. Pt I. v. 1. and Pt II. ix. ; — see also the account of him and of his principle in the prolegomena. Par. 3. Tsze-moh is said to have belonged to Loo, but nothing more is known of him. What his principle was cannot therefore be defined. It could not have been that developed in the " Doctrine of the Mean ; " what he held must have been something intermediate between the selfishness of Yang and the transcendentalism of Mill. What Mencius meant by "the exigency of circumstances" will be understood by a reference to IV. Pt I. xvii. Par. 4. The orthodox way of the scholars of China is to do what is right jury it does to the way [of right principle] . It takes up one point and disregards a hundred others." XXVII. 1. Mencius sdd, "The hungry think -any food sweet, and the thirsty think j;he same of any drink ; and thus they do not know the right [taste] of what they eat and drink. The hunger and thirst, [in fact,] injure [their palate]. And is it only the mouth and belly that are injured by hunger and thirst ? Men's minds are also injured by them.

2. " If a man can prevent the injurious evils of hunger and thirst from doing any injury to his mind, there need be no anxiety about his not being up with other men." XXVIII. Mencius said, " Hwuy of Lew-hea would not for the three highest offices at the royal court have changed his guiding plan, of life." XXIX. Mencius said, " A man with definite aims to be accomplished may be compared to one digging a well. To dig the well to a depth of seventy-two cubits, [and stop] without reaching the spring, is after all throwing away the well/' with reference to the whole circumstances of every case and time. See Mencius' defence of it in VI. Pt II. 1. CH. XXVII. THE IMPORTANCE OF NOT ALLOWING THE MIND TO BE IN- Par. 1. With reference to the mind, hunger and thirst stand for poverty and a mean condition. Par. 2. " Other men " here are not the wealthy and honourable, but sages and worthies. Such a man is on the way to become one of them. CH. XXVIII. HWUY OP LEW-HEA'S STEDPAST ADHERENCE TO HIS PLAN OF LIFE. On Hwuy of Lew-hea see II. Pt I. ix. 2, 3 ; et al. In V. Pt I. i. 5, a certain mildness, or accommodating of himself to others, is mentioned as Hwuy's characteristic, but Mencius takes care here that that should not be confounded with vacillating weakness. For the " three kung",&[ highest ministers at the royal court, see the Book of History, V. xx. 5.

CH. XXIX. THAT LABOUR ONLY is TO BE PRIZED WHICH ACCOMPLISHES ITS OBJECT. Compare Ana. LX. xviii. ; and VI. Pt I. xix. The commentators mostly suppose that Mencius had the prosecution of learning in view ; but the ap plication of his words may be very wide. XXX. 1. Mencius said, " [Benevolence and righteousness] were natural to Yaou and Shun. T'ang and Woo made them their own. The five presidents of the States feigned 2. " Having borrowed them long and not.returned them, how could it be known that they did not own them ? " XXXI. 1. Kung-sun Ch'ow said, "E Yin said, 'I cannot be near so disobedient a person/ and therewith he banished T'ae-keah to Tfung. The people were much pleased. When T'ae-keah became virtuous, he then brought him back • and the people were much pleased. 2. " When worthies are ministers, and their rulers are not virtuous, may they indeed banish them in this way ? " 3. Mencius replied, "If they have the mind of E Yin, they may. If they have not the mind, it would be usurpa tion." XXXII. Kung-sun Ch'ow said, " It is said in the Book of Poetry,

' He would not eat the bread of idleness ! ' How is it that we see superior men eating without plough ing ? " Mencius replied, " When a superior man resides in CH. XXX. THE DIFFERENCE OF THE CHARACTERS DISPLAYED BY YAOU AND SHUN, BY TANG AND Woo, AND BY THE FIVE PRESIDENTS OF THE STATES, AS NATURAL, ACQUIRED, AND FEIGNED. Pa?-. 1. Mencius is speaking of the attributes displayed by the parties mentioned in their several rules. "The five presidents of the States ; " — see VI. Ft II. vii. Par. 2. Some would interpret this par. : — " Having feigned them long, and not returned [to the right], how could they know that they did not [really] have them ? " On. XXXI. THE END MAY JUSTIFY THE MEANS IN DEALING WITH A BAD RULER, BUT THE PRINCIPLE IS NOT TO BE EASILY APPLIED. Par. 1. E Yin and his dealing with T'ae-keah ; — see V. Pt I. vi. 5, and the Book bf History, IV. v. Pt I. 9. Par. 3. The rnind of E Yin was entirely loyal, and his aim was only the public good. — Compare for the general sentiment what Meucius says in V. Pt II. ix., and II. Pt II. viii. ">.

CH. XXXII. THE SERVICES WHICH A SUPERIOR MAN RENDERS TO A STATE ENTITLE HIM, WITHOUT DOING OFFICIAL DUTY. TO SUITORT. We have here an instance of the insinuation repeatedly made by disciples any State, let its ruler employ his counsels, and he comes to tranquillity, wealth, honour, and glory. Let the young in it follow his instructions, and they become filial, obedient to their elders, true-hearted, and faithful. What greater ex ample can there be than this of not eating the bread of idleness ? " XXXIII. 1. The king's son, Teen, asked, saying, " What is the business of the [unemployed] scholar ? " 2. Mencius replied, " To exalt his aim." 3. " What do you mean by exalting the aim ? " asked [the other] . The answer was, " [Sotting it] simply on benevolence and righteousness. [The scholar thinks] how to put a single innocent person to death is contrary to benevolence ; how to take what one has not [a right to] is contrary to righteousness ; that one's dwelling-place should be benevolence, and one's path righteousness. When benevo lence is the dwelling-place [of the mind], and righteousness the path [of the life], the business of the great man is com plete."

XXXIV. Mencius said, " Supposing that the kingdom of Tsfe were offered, contrary to righteousness, to (Jhuug- of Mencius, that it was wrong in him to be supported by the princes, while he would not take office under them. Compare III. Pt I. iv. ; Ft II. iv. : et al. On the nature of Mencius' defence of his practice, see what I have said in the sketch of his Life and Character in the Prolegomena. The Ode quoted from is the 8th of Book IX. Pt I. CH. XXXIII. HOW A SCHOLAR SHOULD PREPARE HIMSELF FOR THE DUTIES TO WHICH HE ASPIRES. Par. 1. Teen was, probably, a son of king Seuen of Ts'e. In the time of the Warring States, the number of wandering scholars, seeking to be em ployed, had greatly increased. They were no favourites with Mencius, but he here answers the prince according to his ideal of the scholar. Par. 3. On benevolence as man's dwelling-place, and righteousness as man's path, see VI. Pt I. xi. We can hardly understand "the great man " here as in xix. 4. There it denotes sages, the highest style of man ; here, the individuals in the various grades of official employment, with an impli cation, perhaps, that such a scholar was fit for the highest office.

CH. XXXIV. HOW MEN JUDGE WRONGLY OF CHARACTER, OVERLOOKING, IN THEIR ADMIRATION OF ONE ECCENTRIC EXCELLENCE, GREAT FAILURES AND DEFICIENCIES. Chung-tsze. or Mr Chung, is the Ch'in Chung of III. Pt II. x., which. tsze, he would not receive it ; and all men believe in him [as a man of the highest worth]. But this is [only] the righteousness which declines a small basket of rice and a dish of soup. A man can have no greater [crimes] than to disown his parents and relatives, and [the relations of] ruler and minister, superiors and inferiors. How can it be allowed to give a man credit for the great [excellences] be cause he possesses a small one." XXXV. 1. T'aou Ying askei, saying, " Shun being emperor, and Kaou Yaou chief minister of justice, if Koosow had murdered a man, what would have been done in the case ? " 2. Mencius said, " [Kaou Yaou] would simply have appre hended him." ;j. " But would not Shun have forbidden such a thing ? " 4. " Indeed," was the reply, "how could Shun have for bidden it ? [The other] had received [the law] from a proper source." 5. " In that case what would Shun have done ? "

G. [Mencius] said, " Shun would have regarded aband oning all under heaven as throwing away a worn-out sandal. He would privately have taken [his father] on his back, and withdrawn into concealment, living somewhere on the sea board. There ho would have been all his life, cheerful and happy, forgetting the empire." XXXVI. 1. Mencius, going from Fan to [the capital chapter should be read in connexion with this. On declining a small basket of rice, &c., see VI. Pt I. x. 6. Cii. XXXV. WHAT SHUN .AND HIS MINISTER OF JUSTICE WOULD HAVE DONE IF SlIUN'S FATHER HAD COMMITTED A MURDER. Pid\ 1. T'aou Ying, it is supposed, was a disciple of Mencius. We hardly know anything more of him than what appears here. See Kaou Yaou's ap pointment to be minister of Justice in the Book of History, II. i. 20. Par. '2. He would have apprehended Koo-sow, and dealt with him ac cording to his crime. Par. -i. The " proper source " from which Kaou Yaou had received the law, and especially that of death for the murderer, was Heaven. See Kaou Yaou's '• Counsels" in the Book of History, II. iii. Par. 5. This is Mencius' view of what Shun would have done according to the Chinese idea of the relation of father and son .

CH. XXXVI. How ONE'S ELEVATED SOCIAL POSITION AFFECTS HIS AIR, AND MUCH MORE MAY A SCHOLAR'S POSITION BE EXPECTED TO DO SO. of] Tsfe, saw the sons of the king of Tsfe at a distance, and said witla a sigh, " One's position alters the air, [just as] the nurture alters the body. Great is [the influence of] position ! Are not [we] all men's sons ? " 2. Mencius said, " The residences, the carriages and horses, and the dress of kings' sons, are mostly the same as those of other men. That the king's sons look so is occasioned by their position, — how much more should [a peculiar air distinguish] hirn whose position is in the wide house of the whole world ! 3. " When the ruler of Loo went to Sung, he called out at the Teeh-chih gate, the warder of which said, ' This is not our ruler, but how like is his voice to our ruler's ! ' This was occasioned by nothing but the correspondence of their positions." XXXVII. 1. Mencius said, "To feed [a scholar] and not love him is to treat him as a pig ; to love him and not respect him is to keep him as a domestic animal.

2. " Honouring and respecting are what should exist before any offering of gifts. 3. " If there be honouring and respecting without [that] reality of them, a superior man cannot be retained by such empty [demonstrations] ." XXXVIII. Mencius said, " The bodily organs and the Par. 1. Fan was at this time a city of Ts'e, and still gives its name to a district of Puh Chow, in the department of Tung-ch'ang. Chaou K'e says that it was an appanage of the king's sons by his concubines. We cannot tell, however, whether it was in Fan, or after his arrival at the capital, that Mencius saw the king's son or sons. The last sentence may also be under stood — "Are not they — the king's sons- — all men's sons? " Par. 2. " The wide house of the world : " — see III. Ft II. ii. 3. Par. 3. The T'eeh-chih was the gate of the capital of Sung on the east. CH. XXXVIT. THAT HE BE REALLY RESPECTED SHOULD BE ESSENTIAL TO A SCHOLAR'S REMAINING IN THE SERVICE OP A PRINCE. This utterance was, no doubt, drawn forth by the conduct of the wander ing scholars of Mencius' time, who were glad to be at a court for what they could get. There is admonition in it also to the kinglets and princes, who thought it enough, in order to get help from men who might be really scholars, to support them.

CH. XXXVIII. ONLY BY A SAGE ARE THE BODILY ORGANS AND THE 362 THE WORKS OP MENCIUS. FfiK VII. manifestations of sense belong to the heaven -conferred nature. But a man must be a sage, and then he may satisfy [the design of] his bodily organization. " XXXIX. 1. King Seuen of Ts'e wanted to shorten the period of mourning. Kung-sun Ch'ow said, "To have a whole year's mourning is better than doing away with it altogether." 2. Mencius said, " That is just as if there were one twist ing round the arm of his elder brother, and you were merely to say to him, ' Gently, gently, if you please/ Your only course should be to teach him filial piety and fraternal duty." 3. [At that time] the mother of one of the king's sons had died, and his tutor asked for him that he might be allowed some months' mourning. Kung-sun Ch'ow said, "What do you say to this ? " 4 "This is a case," was the reply, " where the party wishes to complete the whole period, but finds it impossible to do so ; the addition of a single day is better than not mourning at all. I spoke of the case where there was no hindrance and the thing was not done."

XL. 1. Mencius said, " There are five ways by which the superior man teaches. Mencius' meaning is that, besides his body and his senses, man has his mind, with the principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge ; and the mind ought to rule the body. This is the will of Heaven. CH. XXXIX. REPROOF OF KUNG-SUN CH'OW FOR SEEMING TO ASSENT TO THE PROPOSAL TO SHORTEN THE PERIOD OF MOURNING. Compare Ana. XVII. xxi. Par. 1. The mourning here referred to was that of three years for a pa rent ; but perhaps the king wanted to shorten the period in other cases as well. Par. 3. The " king's son " here, it is supposed, was a son by a concubine, and he was prevented by the jealous or other opposition of the queen proper from completing the full period of mourning. We cannot say whether this was the case or not. Other explanations of it have been devised ; but it is not worth while to discuss them. CH. XL. FIVE WAYS IN WHICH THE TEACHING OF THE SUPERIOR MAN Par. 1. The wish of the superior man in all cases is one and the same, — to

PT i. CH. XLI.] TSIN SIN. 363 2. " There are some on whom his transforming influence comes like seasonable rain. 3. " There are some whose virtue he perfects, and some to whose talents he gives their development. 4. " There are some whose inquiries he answers. 5. " There are some who privately make themselves good, and correct themselves [from his example and recorded les sons]. 6. "These five are the ways by which the superior man teaches/' XLI. 1. Kung-sun Ch'ow said, " Lofty are your doctrines and admirable, but [to learn them] may well be likened to ascending the heavens ; — they seem to be unattainable. Why not [adapt them] so as to make those [learners] consider them nearly within their reach, and so daily exert them selves ? " 2. Mencius said, " A great artificer does not, for the sake of a stupid workman, alter or do away with the marking-line. E did not, for the sake of a stupid archer, change his rule for drawing the bow to the full. 3. " The superior man draws the bow to the full, but does not discharge the arrow ; — in a way, [however,] which makes

teach. His methods are modified, however, by the different characters of men. Five methods are specified here, and VI. Pt I. xvi. gives us another. far. 2. This class only want the influence of the superior man, as plants need the rain and dew. So was it, it is said, with Confucius and his dis ciples Yen Hwuy and Tsang-tsze. Par. 3. So was it with Confucius and the virtuous Jen K'e'w and Min Tsze-k'een, with the talented Tsze-loo and Tsze-kung. Par. 4. So was it with Confucius and Fan-ch'e (Ana. II. v. : et al.}, with Mencius and Wan Chang. Par. 5. So was it with Confucius and Ch'in K'ang (Ana. XVI. xiii.), with Mencius and E Che (III. Pt I. v.). The best example of the case, however, is that of the influence of Confucius on our philosopher (IV. Pt II. xxii.). CH. XLI. THE TEACHER OP TRUTH MUST NOT LOWER HIS DOCTRINES TO ADAPT THEM TO THE CAPACITY OF HIS LEARNERS : — A LESSON TO KUNGSUN CH'OW. Par. 2. E ;— see IV. Pt IT. xxiv. : et al. Par. 3. " In a way, however, which makes the thing leap before the learner ; " — the phrase, " leaping-like," which requires to be so much sup plemented, is difficult. It belongs, I think, to the superior man in all the action which is represented. No man can be taught how to hit ; that is every man's own act. But he is taught to shoot, and that in so lively a manner,

364 THE WORKS or MENCIUS. [BK vir. tlie tiling- leap [before the learner] . [So] does lie stand in tlie middle of the right path ; — those who are able follow him." XLII. 1. Meiicius said, "When right ways prevail through out the kingdom, one's principles appear with one's person. When right ways disappear from the kingdom, one's person must vanish along with one's principles. 2. " I have not heard of one's principles being dependent for their manifestation on other men." XLIII. 1. The disciple Kung-too said, "When Kang of T'aiig appeared at your gate, it seemed proper that a polite consideration should be shown to him, and yet you did not answer him ; — why was that ? " 2. Mencius replied, "I do not answer him who questions me presuming on his ability, nor him who presumes on his talents and virtue, nor him. who presumes on his age, nor him who presumes on services performed to me, nor him who presumes on old acquaintance : — I answer in none of these cases. And Kang of T'aug was chargeable with two of them." XLIV. 1. Mencius said, "He who stops short where that the hitting also is, as it were, set forth before him. So with the teacher and learner of truth. As the learner tries to do as he is taught, he will be found laying hold of what seemed unapproachable.

CH. XLII. OXE MUST LIVE OR DIE WITH HIS PRINCIPLES, ACTING FROM HIMSELF, KOT WITH REGARD TO OTHER MEN. A man must direct his course from his own conviction of what is right, appearing in office when it is befitting, disappearing in obscurity, when to be in office would be inconsistent with his principles. On. XLIII. DIFFERENT CLASSES WHOM MENCIUS WOULD NOT RECKIVE INTO HIS SCHOOL. HOW HE REQUIRED THE SIMPLE PURSUIT OF TRUTH IN THOSE WHOM HE TAUGHT. Compare VI. Ft II. ii. Pur. 1. Kang of T'ang was, it is said, a younger brother of the ruler of T'ang. His rank made Kung-too suppose that more than ordinary respect should have been shown to him, and yet it was one of those things, no doubt, which made Mencius jealously watch his spirit. Par. 2. The two things on which Kang presumed were, it is supposed, his rank and his talents and virtue. CH. XLIV. WHERE VIRTUES ARE WANTING. DECENCIES CANNOT BE EXPECTED. PRECIPITATE ADVANCES ARE FOLLOWED BY SPEEDY RETREATS. stopping is not proper will stop snort in everything. He v?ho behaves shabbily to those whom he ought to treat well will behave shabbily to all. 2. " He who advances with precipitation will retire with speed. "

XLV. Mencius said, " In regard to the [inferior] creatures, the superior man is loving, but does not show benevolence. In regard to people generally, he exercises benevolence but is not affectionate. He is affectionate to his parents, and exercises benevolence to people generally. He exercises benevolence to people generally, and is loving to [inferior] creatures." XLVI. 1. Mencius said, " The wise embrace all knowledge, but they are most earnest about what they ought to be most concerned about. The benevolent embrace all in their love, but to be earnest in cultivating an affection for the worthy is what most concerns them. [Even] the knowledge of Yaou and Shun did not extend to everything, but they were earnest about what first concerned them. The benevo lence of Yaou and Shun did not show itself in [acts of] love to every man, but they were earnest in. cultivating an affection for the worthy. 2. " Not to be able to keep the three years' mourning, and to be very particular about that of three months, or that of CH. XLV. THE DIFFERENT SPHERES OF KINDNESS OR LOVINGNESS, OP Compare the language of Confucius on the graduated scale of regard and behaviour to different classes of men in the Doctrine of the Mean, XX. 12. The utterance here was directed, most probably, against the Mihist doctrine of loving all equally.

CH. XLVI. ON KNOWING AND PURSUING WHAT is MOST IMPORTANT TO BE KNOWN AND PURSUED : — ILLUSTRATED BY THE CASES OF YAOU AND SHUN, AND BY OPPOSITE INSTANCES. Par. I. See the conversation of Confucius with Fan Ch'e in Ana. XII. xxii., where the principles enunciated here by Mencius are implied. The first two Parts of the Book of History may also be referred to. In them we have Yaou and Shun looking out for the best men whom they could be friendly with and employ, and attending to the things which in their time and circumstances were most required for the well-being of the empire. Par. 2. The illustrations here are of men neglecting what is important, and concerned about what is trivial in comparison. For the references five months ; to eat immoderately and swill down the drink, and [at the same time] to inquire about [the precept] not to tear off the flesh with the teeth ; — such things illustrate what I say about not knowing what is most to be attended to/' CHAPTER I. 1. Mencins said, " Opposite indeed of benevo lent was king Hwuy of Leang ! The benevolent begin with what they [most] love, and proceed to what they do not [so naturally] love. Those who are not benevolent, begin ning with what they do not [so naturally] love, proceed to what they [most] love."

2. Kung-sun Cb/ow said, " What do you mean ? " [Mencius replied] , " King Hwuy of Leang, for the matter of territory, tore and destroyed his people by employing them in fighting. Having sustained a great defeat, he wished to fight again; and, fearing lest the people should not be able to get the victory, he urged his son, a youth, whom lie loved, [to take the command,] and sacrificed him with them. This is what I call — beginning with what they do not [so naturally] love, and proceeding to what they [most] love." to customs at meals, see the Le Ke, I. Pt I. iii. 54 — 59. To tear off the roasted meat from a bone with the teeth was but a small matter compared with such an exhibition of gluttony as the other clauses speak of. CH. I. THE OPPOSITE WAYS OF THE BENEVOLENT AND THOSE WHO ARE NOT BENEVOLENT : — AN EMPHATIC CONDEMNATION OF KING HWUY OF LEANG. Par. 1. King Hwuy of Leang ; — see on I. Pt I. i. 1. See the gradation of loving regards in the benevolent in Pr I. xlv. With what is said of those who are not benevolent, we may compare Pt I. xliv.

Par. 2. " He tore and lacerated his people ; " — the characters suggest the idea of the king's dealing with his people as rice is dealt with when it is boiled to a pulpy mass. " He sacrificed his son ; " — see I, Pt I. v. 1. II. 1. Mencius said, "In the ' Spring and Autumn ' there are no righteous wars. Instances indeed there are of one war better than another. 2. " ' Punitive expeditions' are when the supreme authori ty smites its subjects. Hostile States conduct no punitive expeditions against one another." III. 1. Mencius said, " It would be better to be without the Book of History than to give entire credit to it. 2. "In the ' Successful Completion of the War' I select two or three passages only, [and repose entire credit in them] . 3. " The benevolent manhas no enemy under heaven. When [the prince] the most benevolent was attacking him who was the most the opposite, how could the blood have flowed till it floated the pestles of the mortars ? " CH. II. HOW ALL THE FIGHTINGS IN THE CH'UN Tg'EW WERE UNRIGHT EOUS : — A WARNING TO THE WARRING STATES OP MENCIUS' TIME.

Par. 1. " The Spring and Autumn ; " — see the 5th volume of my larger work, " The C'h'un Ts'ew, with theTaoChuen." "Wars ; '' — the term, according to the phraseology of the Spring and Autumn, should be translated "battles ; " but Mencius meant, I believe, to indicate by it all the operations of war mentioned in the Classic of Confucius. We have there 23 battles or lightings, 213 attacks or smitings, with a multitude of "incursions," "sieges," "carryings away," " surprises," &c. Par. 2. " Punitive," or perhaps, from the composition of the Chinese term, I should say corrective, " expeditions " were competent only to the king, who might carry them out in his own person, or entrust them to one of the princes, or to a combination of them. And some of the presidents of the States in the Ch'un Ts'e'w period might in a measure plead his delegation for their proceedings. Compare what Mencius says in VI. Pt II. vii. 2. CH. III. WITH WHAT ABATEMENT OF FAITH IN IT MENCIUS READ THE BOOK OF HISTOHY. Par. 1. The utterance here seems at first sight of it in Chinese to mean — '• It would be better to have no books, than to put entire credit in them ; " but the reference in par. 2 shows that Mencius had in mind " the Book " par excellence, — the Book of History.

Par. 2. See the Book of History, V. iii. The par. referred to in the next par. here, about the bloodshed, is the 9th. " Passages " is literally " tablets," referring to the slips of wood or bamboo, on which the characters were pricked out with a stylus. Par. 3. The slaughter here described was made by the forces of the tyrant Chow turning against one another, and not by the troops of " the most bene volent " king Woo. The amount of it is probably exaggerated ; but some thing of the kind is easily conceivable. Some writers think that Mencius expressed himself so strongly, foreseeing IY. 1. Moncius said, "There are some who say, ' We are skilful at marshalling troops ; we are skilful at conducting battles.' They are great criminals. 2. " If the ruler of a State love benevolence,, he will have no adversary under heaven. 3. " When [T'ang] was conducting his punitive expedi tions in the south, the rude tribes on the north murmured. When he was doing so in the east, the rude tribes on the west murmured Their cry was, — ' Why does he make us last ? '

4. " When king Woo attacked Yin, he had [only] three hundred chariots of war, and three thousand guards. 5. " The king said, ' Do not fear. Let me give you re pose. I am no enemy to the people/ [On this] they bowed their heads to the gronnd, like the horns [of animals] falling off. 6. " The phrase ' punitive expedition ' has in it the mean ing of correction. Each [State] wishing to have itself cor rected, what need is there for fighting ? " V. Mencius said, "Cabinet-makers, builders, wheel- what precedents for their abnormal courses might in future time be sought in the Boole of History by rebels and oppressors. Compare our philosopher's rule for the interpretation of the Book of Poetry in V. Pt I. iv. 2. Gil. IV. COUXSKL INTENDED FOR RULERS,— THAT THEY SHOULD NOT ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BE DECEIVED BY MEN WHO WOULD ADVISE THEM TO WAR. GRAND SUCCESS is TO BE OBTAINED BY BENEVOLENCE. Par. 1. Compare IV. Pt I. xiv., and VI. Pt II. ix. Par. '2. See the saying at the beginning of par. 3 of the preceding chap ter. Par. ?,. See I. Pt IT. xi. 2 : et id.

Par. 4. In the Preface to the Book of History, par. 3, it is said that on the occasion referred to here Woo had 300 war chariots, and 300 guards. Much has been written on the difference between the two statements, but it is needless to enter here on the matter. Mencius wants to show that Woo's forces were very small as compared with those of his opponent ; — and so, no doubt, they were. Par. :>. See the Book of History, V. i. Pt II. 9 ; but the text of that Classic is hardly recognizable in Mencius' version of it, and the meaning of Woo's words in the two Works is different. I do not know how to account for the different texts. par. G. See the note on par. 2 of chapter ii. CH. V. HEAL ATTAINMENTS MUST BE MADE BY THE LEARNER FOR HIM SELF. PT II. CH. Till.] TSIN SIN. 369 wrights, and carriage-builders can give to a man the com pass and square, but they cannot make him skilful [in the use of them] ." VI. Mencius said, " Shun ate [his] parched grain, and partook of [his] coarse herbs, as if he were to be doing so all his life. When he became emperor, and had the em broidered robes to wear, [his] lute to play on, and [YaouVJ two daughters to wait on him, he was as if those things be longed to him as a matter of course. "

VII. Mencius said, " From this time forth I know the heavy consequences of killing a man's near relations. When a man kills another's father, that other will kill his father; when a man kills another's elder brother, that other will kill his elder brother. So he does not himself indeed do the act, but there is only a [small] interval [between him and it] ." VIII. 1. Mencius said, ec Anciently, the establishment of frontier-gates was to guard against violence. 2. " Now-a-days, it is to exercise violence/' For the general sentiment compare Pt I. xli. The same names of workers in wood, &c., occur in III. Pt II. iv. CH. VI. THE EQUANIMITY OF SHUN IN POVERTY AND AS EMPEROR. CH. VII. THE THOUGHT OF ITS CONSEQUENCES SHOULD MAKE MEN CAREFUL OP THEIR CONDUCT : — ILLUSTRATED I?Y THE RESULT OF KILLING THE NEAR RELATIVES OF ANOTHER. / This remark was made, probably, as observed by Choo He, with reference to some particular case which had come under Mencius' observation. It was a maxim of Chinese society, sanctioned by Confucius, that '• a man should not live under the same heaven with the slayer of his father, nor in the same State with the slayer of his elder brother."

CH. VIII. THE BENEVOLENCE OF ANCIENT RULE AND THE SELFISHNESS OF MODERN SEEN IN THE REGULATIONS ABOUT THE FRONTIER-GATES. Par. 1 . Anciently the object contemplated by these gates was to prevent the ingress or egress of parties dangerous to the State. Par. 2. In Mencius' time they were maintained chiefly for the collection of duties. — Compare II. Pt I. v. 3. o70 THE WORKS OF MENCIUS. \_BK TTI. IX. Mencius said, " If a man do not liirasolf walk in the riglit way, it will not be walked in [even] by his wife and children. If he order others but not according to the right way, he will not be able to get the obedience [even] of his wife and children/'' X. Mencius said, " A bad year cannot prove the cause of death to him whose [stores of] what is needful are com plete ; an age of corruption cannot throw him into disorder whose [equipment of] virtue is complete." XI. Mencius said, " A man who loves fame may be able to decline a kingdom of a thousand chariots ; but if he be not [really] the man [to do such a thing], it will appear in his countenance in the matter of a small basket of rice, or a dish of soup."

1. Mencius said, " If the benevolent and worthy be not confided in, a State will become empty and void. 2. " Without the rules of propriety and distinctions of what is right, high and low will be thrown into confusion. CH. IX. HOW A MAN'S INFLUENCE DEPENDS ON HIS OWN EXAMPLE AND PROCEDURE. His wife and children are the most amenable to a man's example and orders, but unless he is all right in his example and procedure, they will not be or do what is right ; — how much less other men ! On the latter part compare Ana. XIII. xiii. OH. X. COURUPT TIMES ARE PROVIDED AGAINST BY ESTABLISHED VIR TUE. Compare the Doctrine of the Mean, XX. 16. CH. XI. A MAN'S TRUE DISPOSITION WILL APPEAR IN SMALL MATTERS, WHEN A LOVE OP FAME MAY HAVE ENABLED HIM TO DO GREAT THINGS. Choo He says on this : — " A man is seen not so much in things that re quire an effort as in things which he thinks little of. By bearing this in mind when we observe him, we can see what he really rests in." Chaou K'e, on the contrary, takes the utterance superficially, as an approval of the love of fame.

CH. XII. THREE THINGS ARE ESSENTIAL TO THE WELL-BEING OF A STATE : — THE RIGHT MEN ; THE RULES OF PROPRIETY ; AND WISE AD MINISTRATION. Par. 1. This condition not obtaining, such men will leave the State, and then it will become as if no men were in it. 3. "Without the various business of government, there will not be resources sufficient for the expenditure." XIII. Mencius said, " There are instances of individuals without benevolence who have got possession of a [single] >State, but there is no instance of the whole kingdom's being got by one without benevolence." XIV. 1. Mencius said, "The people are the most import ant element [in a country] ; the Spirits of the land and grain are the next ; the ruler is the lightest. 2. " Therefore to gain the peasantry is the way to be come the son of Heaven ; to gain the son of Heaven is the way to become the prince of a State ; to gain the prince of a State is the way to become a great officer. 3. " When the prince of a State endangers the altars of the Spirits of the land and grain, he is changed and another appointed [in his place] .

Par. 3. The various business of government refers to all the sources of revenue and their administration. CH. XIII. ONLY BY THE BENEVOLENT CAN THE KINGDOM BE GOT. A commentator observes : — " From the dynasty of Ts'in downwards, there have been cases when the empire was got by men without benevolence ; but it has been lost again in such instances after one or two reigns." CH. XIV. THE DIFFERENT CONSTITUENTS OF A COUNTRY IN RESPECT OP THKIR IMPORTANCE ; — THE RULER, THE TUTELARY SPIRITS, AND THE PEOPLE. Par. 1. Translated into our modes of thinking, the three elements in a nation would be, — the ruler, the established religion, and the people. It is not easy to determine the exact force of the terms by which the second element is described ; — whether we are to understand merely the altars to the tutelary Spirits, or those Spirits themselves. Choo He takes the former view ; other commentators maintain the latter ; — and with them I am inclined to agree. Of course when the presiding Spirits were changed, the place and form of their altars might also be changed. Par. 2. This shows that the people are the most important constituent in a country. " The peasantry " is here equivalent to " the people," the land being the source of the maintenance of all classes, and the original consti tution of the Chinese nation as a whole, as well as of every State, being based on a recognition of this. Even the highest authority therefore came from the people.

Par. 3. This shows that the tutelary Spirits of a State were of more im portance than its ruler. 372 THR WORKS OF MKNCIUS. [l3K VII. 4. " When the sacrificial victims have been perfect, the millet in its vessels all pure, and the sacrifices offered at their proper seasons, if there yet ensue drought or inunda tions, then the altars of the Spirits of the land and grain are changed, and others appointed/'' XV. Mencius said, "A sage is the teacher of a hundred generations ; — this is true of Pih-e and Hwuy of Lew-hea. Therefore when men [now] hear the character of Pih-e, the corrupt become pure, and the weak acquire determination. When they hear the character of Hwuy of Lew-hea, the mean become generous, and the niggardly become liberal. [Those two] made themselves distinguished a hundred generations back, and, a hundred generations after them, those who hear of them are all aroused [in this manner] . Could such effects be produced by them if they had not been sages ? And how much more did they affect those who were in contiguity with them and warned by them ! " XVI. Mencius said, " By benevolence is meant [the dis tinguishing characteristic of] man. When it is embodied in man's conduct, we have what we call the path [of duty] ."

XVII. Mencius said, " When Confucius was about to leave Loo, lie said, ' I will go by and by ; ' — it was right that he should leave the State of his parents in this way. When he Pur. 4. This shows that the people were still more important than the tutelary Spirits. They were appointed and worshipped for the good of the people : the people did not exist lor them. — No chapter in his Works shows the boldness of Mencius' thinking more than this. CH. XV. THAT PIH-E AND HWUY OF LEW-HEA WERE SAGES is PROVED Compare V. Pt II. i., and the references there given. I do not think that Mencius intended sages here to be understood in the highest sense of the name. Confucius is " the teacher of ten thousand generations." CH. XVI. THE PRINCIPLE or BENEVOLENCE IN MAN'S NATURE, AND IN Compare VI. Pt I. xi. 1. See also the Doctrine of the Mean, XX. 5. CH. XVII. THE DIFFEKENT WAYS IN WHICH CONFUCIUS LEFT Loo AND See V. Pt II. 5. 4. was leaving Tsf e, lie took with his hands the water from the rice which was being washed in it, and went away [with the rice uncooked] ; — it was right he should leave another State in this way/'

XVIII. Mencius said, " The reason why the superior man was reduced to straits between Ch'in and Tsfae was because none of the rulers or of their ministers communicated with him." XIX. 1. Mill K'e said, " Greatly am I without anything to depend on from the mouths [of men] ." 2. Mencius replied, " There is no harm in that. Scholars suffer more than others from the mouths of people. 3. " It is said in the Book of Poetry, ' My anxious heart is full of trouble ; I am hated by the herd of mean people.' [Such was the case of] Confucius. And again, ' Though he could not prevent the rage [of his foes], He did not let fall his own fame.' [Such was the case of] king Wan.-" XX. Mencius said, " [Anciently], men of virtue and tal ents by means of their own enlightenment made others en- CH. XVIII. THE REASON OP CONFUCIUS BEING IN STRAITS BETWEEN CH'IN AND TS'AE. See Ana. XI. ii., which puts it beyond doubt that by " the superior man " here we are to understand Confucius. So to designate him, however, is not after the usual style of our philosopher.

CH. XIX. MENCIUS COMFORTS ONE MIH K'E UNDER CALUMNY BY THE REFLECTION THAT DISTINGUISHED MEN WERE MORE ESPECIALLY EXPOSED TO SUCH A THING. Par. 1. Mih K'e was, it is supposed, a scholar of the time. He was smarting, we must assume, under some calumny when he had this conversa tion with Mencius. Par. 3. See the Book of Poetry, Ft I. iii., Ode I. 4, and Pt III. i. Ode III. 8. It is difficult to see why Mencius should apply the former passage to Confucius, and the latter to king Wan. CH. XX. HOW OF OLD HEN OF WORTH LED ON MEN BY THEIR EXAMPLE, lightened. Now-a-days, [those who would be deemed such, seek] by means of their own darkness to make others en lightened." XXI. Mencius said to Kaou-tsze, " There are the narrow foot-paths along the hills; — if suddenly they be used, they become roads, and if in a short space they are [again] dis used, the wild grass fills them up. Now the wild grass is filling up your mind, Sir." XXII. 1. Kaou-tsze said, " The music of Yu was better than that of king Wan." 2. Mencius asked, " On what ground do you say so ? " and the other replied, " Because the knob of [Yu's] bells is near ly worn through."

3. Mencius rejoined, " How can that be a sufficient proof? Have the ruts at a city-gate been made [merely] by the twohorsed carriage ? " .WHILE IN MENCIUS' TIME IT WAS TRIED BY RULERS TO URGE MEN CON TRARY TO THKIR EXAMPLE. Of old laws and example went together in the ruling class ; in Mencius' time there remained the laws, hut the example was all had. CH. XXI. THAT THE CULTIVATION OF THE MIND SHOULD NOT BE IN TERMITTED. Kaou-tsze,— see on VI. Pt II. iii. 1. The individual here would seem to be the same as the one in II. Pt II. xii. 2. Chaou K'e says that after studying with Mencius for some time, and hefore he fully understood his principles, he went off and addicted himself to some other teacher, so that what our philosopher here says to him was with reference to this course and its con sequences. CH. XXII. REFUTATION OF AN ABSURD REMARK OF KAOU-TSZE ABOUT TU'S. MUSIC BEING BETTER THAN THAT OF KING WAN. What Kaou insisted on as the basis of his assertion was only the effect of time or long use. As Yu was long anterior to king Wan, those of his bells which remained were necessarily more worn than the more recent ones, but this did not imply any superiority of the music which they made. At the entrance to a gate the road contracts, and all the carriages which had been distributed over its breadth are obliged to run in the same ruts, which hence are deeper there than elsewhere. How much more must this be the case when in the case supposed we have to think of the two-horsed carriages of the Hea dynasty, followed by the three-horsed ones of the 8 hang, and those by the four-horsed of the Chow !

XXIII. 1. There was a famine in Ts'e, and Ch'in Tsin said [to Mencius], " The people are all thinking that you, Master, will again obtain for them the opening of [the granary of] T'ang, bat I apprehend you will not do so a second time." 2. [Mencius] replied, " To do so would be to act like Fung Foo. There was a man of that name in Tsin, distin guished for his skill in seizing tigers. He afterwards became a scholar of reputation, and going once into the wild country, he found a crowd in pursuit of a tiger. The tiger took re fuge in a corner of a hill, where no one dared to attack him ; but when the people descried Fung Foo, they ran and met him. He [immediately] bared his arms, and descended from his carriage. The multitude were pleased with him, but those who were scholars laughed at him/' XXIV. 1. Mencius said, " For the mouth to desire tastes, the eye colours, the ear sounds, the nose odours, and the four limbs ease and rest ; — these things are natural. But there is the appointment [of Heaven in connexion with them] ; and the superior man does not say [in his pursuit of them], ' It is my nature.'

CH. XXIII. How MENCTUS KNE\V WHERE TO STOP AND MAINTAIN HIS Par. 1. Ch'in Tsin, — see II. Ft. II. iii. ; et al. At T'ang, the name of which is still preserved in the village of Kan-t'ang, district of Tseih-mih, depart ment Lae-chow, Shan-tung, the rulers of Ts'e, it would appear, kept grain in store, and on some previous occurrence of famine, Mencius had advised the king to open the granary and give out its contents. In the mean time, however, he had not found the king willing to obey his higher counsels, and intended to leave the State. He considered that his work in Ts'e was done, and that it would be inconsistent with his character to make such an appli cation as he had done before. — I must believe also that the famine at this time was not very severe. Par. 2. it did not belong to Fung Foo, now an officer and scholar, to be fighting with tigers and playing the part of a bravo. CH. XXIV. THE SUPERIOR MAN SUBJECTS THE GRATIFICATION OF HIS NATURAL APPETITES TO THE WILL OF HEAVEN, AND PURSUES THE DOING OF GOOD WITHOUT THINKING THAT THE AMOUNT WHICH HE CAN DO MAY BE LIMITED BY THAT WILL.

Par. 1. Every appetite naturally desires its unlimited gratification, but a limited amount or an entire denial of such gratification may be the will of Heaven ; and the superior man submits to that will. He holds that the appetites belong to the part of his constitution which is less noble ; — see VI. Pt I. xiv. 376 THE WORKS OF MENCIUS. [flK VII. 2. " [The exercise of] love between father and son, [tlie observance of] righteousness between ruler and minister, the rules of ceremony between guest and host, [the display of] knowledge in [recognizing] the able and virtuous, and the [fulfilling the whole] heavenly course by the sage : — these are appointed [by Heaven and may be realized in different degrees] . But there is [an adaptation of our] nature [for them], and the superior man does not say [in reference 10 them], ' There is a [limiting] appointment [of Heaven]/ ' XX\T. 1. Haou-sang Puh-hae asked, saying, " What sorb of man is Yoh-ching ? " Mencius replied, " He is a good man, a real man." '1. " What do you mean by 'A. good man 1' What do you mean by ' A real man ? }

'3. The reply was, " A man who commands our liking is what is called good. 4. " He whose [goodness] is part of himself is what is called a real man. 5. " He whose [goodness] is accumulated in full measure is what is called a beautiful man. 6. " He whose completed [goodness] is brightly displayed is what is called a great man. Pa?-. 2. Underneath this paragraph there lies the Mencian doctrine of human nature as formed for the practice of what is good. — Choo He says well on the whole : — " I have heard it observed by my master that the things mentioned in both of these paragraphs are in the constitution of our nature, and are limited also by the appointment of Heaven. Mankind, however, consider that the former five are more especially natural, and, though they may be prevented from obtaining them, still desire them. ; and that the latter five are indeed appointed by Heaven, but if the fulfilment of them does not come to them readily, they do not go on to pat forth their strength to attain to it. On this account Mencius shows what is most im portant in each case, that he may induce a broader way of thinking in regard to the latter class, and repress the way of thinking in regard to the former."

CH. XXV. THE CHARACTER OF YOH-CHING. DIFFERENT DEGREES OF Par. 1. Chaou K'e says that Haou-sang Puh-hae was a man of Ts'e. Nothing is known of him. Yoh-ching, — see I. Ft II. xvi., et al., especially VI. Pt II. xiv. Pa?'. 3. It is assumed here that the general verdict of mankind will be on the side of goodness. Hence when a man is desirable, and commands universal liking, he must be a good man. 7. ' ' When this great man exercises a transforming infiu- I / ence, he is what is called a sage. 8. " "When the sage is beyond our knowledge, he is what is called a spirit-mem. 9. " Yoh-ching is between the [first] two char-actors, and below the [last] four." XXVI. 1. Mencius said, " Those who are fleeing from [the errors of] Mill naturally turn to Yang, and those who are fleeing from [the errors of] Yang naturally turn to or thodoxy. When they so turn, they should at once and sim ply be received. 2. " Those who now-a-days dispute with [those who had been] Yangists and Mihists, do so as if they had been pur suing a stray pig, the leg of which, after they have got it to enter the pen, they proceed to tie."